David Hume is the philosophers' philosopher, but he is little known outside academia and he is not usually thought of as a practical philosopher. Julian Baggini argues that Hume's radically modest approach to living and thinking makes him one of our best guides to the good life, one on which dining with friends is as valuable as talking philosophy with them.
Part 1: The Formation of a Philosopher
How Hume's childhood, his nervous breakdown, his failed attempt at a commercial life and two years of solitude in France helped form some of the key ideas that would remain as the bedrock of his life's philosophy, examining notions such as selfhood, morality, causation and rationality.
Part 2: The Mature Thinker
Youthful obscurity turned into mature fame for Hume, but most of his best-known work was completed early on. Bit examining the second half of his life, – when he wrote essays and histories, was feted in France and condemned by Rousseau – contained many philosophical lessons, as does his exemplary death.