Shelley’s ‘Spirit of the Age’ Antedated in Hume
Abstract
ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the writings of David Hume. The original edition of the book "Oxford English Dictionary," as well as the integrated edition of 1989, both contain the definition that "spirit" is the prevailing tone or tendency of a particular period of time. In the essay "Of Luxury," published by David Hume in 1752, he writes that the spirit of the age affects all the arts. He says that the minds of men, being once roused from their lethargy, and put into a fermentation, turn themselves on all sides, and carry improvements into every art and science.