Who is David Hume and does he still matter today?

David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher and historian who was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He is Scotland’s most famous philosopher, but less than half of Scots have heard of him. 

He is best remembered today for his ideas around human nature, empiricism and skepticism. His life saw a period of rapid growth in Edinburgh, the expansion of the British Empire, the Jacobite Rebellion and the build up to the French revolution.

In recent years, racist views expressed by Hume in a footnote have come to attention as society has contended more generally with the legacy of slavery and colonialism across the world. This led to the renaming of David Hume Tower at the University of Edinburgh, as well as calls for changes to Hume’s statue on the Royal Mile. 

DHI was formed in 1985 and our founders named the organisation after Hume in honour of his sceptical enquiry. We wanted to work with others to better understand what it means to be named a historical figure now known to have held racist views.

Over the last few years, we have been on a journey led by curiosity with people from across Scotland to better understand the life and times of David Hume, to consider what might have influenced him to write the footnote and how does this effect his legacy.

The short film, David Who? Re-examining the legacy of Scotland’s Greatest Philosopher discusses how curiosity drove this project and how we are using creativity to explore what his legacy means to young people today.

By asking questions and considering evidence, we invite you to think about how what he wrote influences our lives today. 

With special thanks to Irene Mosota, Khaleda Noon, Sepi Golzari-Munro and the pupils of the Royal High School of Edinburgh.