---
title: "Hume | Modern philosophy | Thought Archive"
number: "045"
slug: "045-hume"
author: "Wenzi / 文子"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://tongzai.space/en/thought-archive/045-hume/"
is_primary_text: true
---

# Hume（Modern philosophy）



## Common research question

**Why does Hume question necessary connection in causation?**

Hume argues that repeated succession is observable, whereas a necessary connection between events is not perceived as an additional sensory object. Causal expectation depends on custom and habit. This does not amount to rejecting every practical inference or scientific investigation; it questions the grounding of causal belief.

## Interpretive boundary

Distinguish the Treatise from the later Enquiry and its reformulations.

## Archive evidence

- [E-05 ｜ Enquiry concerning Human Understanding VII.28—30: the origin of necessary connexion](#E-05)
- [E-04 ｜ Enquiry concerning Human Understanding V.5—6: custom guides life](#E-04)