David Hume

About David Hume

David Hume (1711–1776) was a towering figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, critically acclaimed for his profound contributions to empiricism, skepticism, and ethics. Ranked #638 by the Pantheon project, his impact stems from works like A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, which fundamentally challenged established notions of causation and induction in philosophy. His philosophical skepticism and naturalistic approach to human experience laid essential groundwork for subsequent philosophical and scientific thought.

In the modern digital sphere, Hume’s historical significance translates to an Attention Gap of approximately 1x, suggesting his 2025 annualized Wikipedia pageviews of 608K are relatively aligned with his historical standing among influential figures. For context within his own field, he received fewer views in 2025 than fellow philosopher Swami Vivekananda (1.2M views) and only about 60% of the attention given to Michel Foucault (924K views). This modest attention level indicates that while not entirely overlooked, Hume’s monumental influence is not currently generating the same volume of immediate online curiosity as some of his contemporaries or other historical figures.

His 2025 data suggests a slight cooling trend, with views declining by 6.2% year-over-year and exhibiting a minor -4% drop between Q1 and Q3 momentum, indicating a slight, yet measurable, dip in current internet engagement.