Hume Texts Online

Abbreviations for the Texts

It is standard practice to refer to Hume’s texts using abbreviations, though not everyone uses the same abbreviations. Commonly the Treatise of Human Nature, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, for example, are referred to using just the letters “T”, “E”, and “D” respectively, while other authors prefer “THN”, “EHU”, and “DNR”. But on a website such as this, long abbreviations can be cumbersome and awkward to place neatly, especially when they need to include section and paragraph details (e.g “THN 1.3.14.24”). For this reason, we have adopted the convention of using single letter abbreviations for all of Hume’s major works (including the Abstract and the Letter from a Gentleman), and longer abbreviations for his essays (including My Own Life). These are as follows:

1. Major works (in chronological order)

T Treatise of Human Nature
A Abstract of the Treatise
L Letter from a Gentleman
E Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
M Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
P Dissertation on the Passions
N Natural History of Religion
D Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
H History of England

2. Essays (as ordered in Miller’s standard edition)

DT Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion
LP Of the Liberty of the Press
PR That Politics may be reduced to a Science
FP Of the First Principles of Government
OG Of the Origin of Government
IP Of the Independency of Parliament
BG Whether the British Government inclines more to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic
PG Of Parties in General
PGB Of the Parties of Great Britain
SE Of Superstition and Enthusiasm
DM Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature
CL Of Civil Liberty
El Of Eloquence
RP Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences
Ep The Epicurean
Sto The Stoic
Pl The Platonist
Sc The Sceptic
PD Of Polygamy and Divorces
SR Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing
NC Of National Characters
Tr Of Tragedy
ST Of the Standard of Taste
Co Of Commerce
RA Of Refinement in the Arts
Mo Of Money
In Of Interest
BT Of the Balance of Trade
JT Of the Jealousy of Trade
BP Of the Balance of Power
Ta Of Taxes
PC Of Public Credit
RC Of some Remarkable Customs
PA Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations
OC Of the Original Contract
PO Of Passive Obedience
CP Of the Coalition of Parties
PS Of the Protestant Succession
IPC Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth
IM Of Impudence and Modesty
LM Of Love and Marriage
SH Of the Study of History
Av Of Avarice
EW Of Essay-Writing
MP Of Moral Prejudices
MS Of the Middle Station of Life
CR A Character of Sir Robert Walpole
Su Of Suicide
IS Of the Immortality of the Soul