David Hume, History Painter

In David Hume's early philosophical works, the Treatise of Human Nature and the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Hume describes himself as an "anatomist" rather than as a "painter" of morals: that is, he analyzes how morality works rather than warmly recommending virtue to his readers. In his later writings, particularly the History of England, Hume shifts to the role of an earnest moral activist, championing secular and sociable values. Yet there is a crucial continuity between these two roles: the theory of belief that Hume develops as a philosopher, which emphasizes vividness over rational argument, supplies him with the techniques that he uses as a moralist.