A Treatise of Human Nature · Chapter
Section I: Division of the Subject explained
Hume introduces a division of impressions into original (sensation) and secondary (reflective), and further distinguishes calm from violent emotions, and direct from indirect passions.
What happens
Hume introduces a division of impressions into original (sensation) and secondary (reflective), and further distinguishes calm from violent emotions, and direct from indirect passions. He sets the scope of his inquiry to focus on the secondary, reflective impressions, particularly the violent passions, and outlines the plan to examine their nature, origin, causes, and effects.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
In Part II, the dramatic climax occurs when Hume systematically dismantles the direct, simple origin of love a…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Empiricism and the Primacy of Impressions
Hume's division of impressions into original and secondary underscores the empirical foundation of all perceptions, with original impressions arising from sensory experience.
- Passions and the Self
The chapter introduces the classification of passions into direct and indirect, setting the stage for an analysis of how passions relate to the self and to external objects.
Characters to notice
- David Hume
Author and narrator, presenting the division of impressions and outlining the subject of the treatise.
Key passages
“As all the perceptions of the mind may be divided into impressions and ideas, so the impressions admit of another division into original and secondary.”
Just as all mental perceptions are split into impressions and ideas, impressions themselves are further divided into original and secondary types.
Hume establishes a foundational classification of mental content.
“Original impressions or impressions of sensation are such as without any antecedent perception arise in the soul, from the constitution of the body, from the animal spirits, or from the application of objects to the external organs.”
Original impressions, or sensations, arise directly from bodily constitution, animal spirits, or external objects, without any prior mental perception.
Defines the source of original impressions as purely physical.
“Secondary, or reflective impressions are such as proceed from some of these original ones, either immediately or by the interposition of its idea.”
Reflective impressions derive from original impressions, either directly or through the mediation of an idea.
Explains the origin of reflective impressions in relation to original ones.
“The reflective impressions may be divided into two kinds, viz. the calm and the violent.”
Reflective impressions are categorized into calm and violent types.
Introduces a further subdivision of reflective impressions.
“By direct passions I understand such as arise immediately from good or evil, from pain or pleasure. By indirect such as proceed from the same principles, but by the conjunction of other qualities.”
Direct passions arise directly from pain or pleasure, while indirect passions arise from these same principles but are modified by additional qualities.
Defines the distinction between direct and indirect passions.
