Hume: A Very Short Introduction

Hume opens with a brief biographical sketch and goes on to deal with Hume's philosophical ideas. Professor Ayer gives a general account of Hume's aims and methods, and then examines Hume's theories of perception and self-identity, showing that Hume's arguments for "skepticism with regard to the senses" provide the basis for a positive theory of our knowledge of the external world.

Ayer also shows that Hume's analysis of causation is fundamentally correct. When describing Hume's treatment of morals, politics, and religion, Ayer suggests that Hume's moral theory is far more subtle than is usually supposed; that his treatment of politics undermines the theory of the social contract; and that his masterly Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion argues against the validity of theism and Christianity.