An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
#676 of 2,654 all-time
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
10 people recommended it in 6 threads, 2007–2022.
What people on Hacker News said
It showed me that intellectual curiosity doesn't need to be coupled with abstruse language, that in fact unclear language is not a sign of deep thought, but more likely unclear thought.
This is worth reading because it is the motivation for basically all of modern philosophy of science (at least in the west).
The above books are great, but unless you are really into philosophy I don't think you'd gain much from reading primary sources. (With the exception of Hume, he's brief and brilliant.)
The "Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" is short, very well written and argues, among other things, that causality is an illusion :)
I liked David Hume.. particularly his critique of causality. That's something I think most people still caught up with.. hundreds of years later.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books? 2010 · 4 recommendations
- Ask HN: Are there any books that changed your life during college or school? 2022 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study? 2022 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life? 2015 · 1 recommendation
- Ask YC: favorite books 2007 · 1 recommendation