Abstract

My contention is to understand in what manner Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature should be considered: is it a Traité de l’homme or is it a major contribution to modern historical anthropology? I shall emphasize the fact that from Descartes to Hume the problem of what “human nature” is contrasts very strongly. Such contrasts are to be based on the very specific dimension of Hume’s scepticism; on the fact that human nature should be now considered as basically historical.