Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in the particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature, by showing men in all varieties of circumstances and situations, and furnishing us with materials, from which we may form our observations, and become acquainted with the regular springs of human actions and behavior.
Hume states earlier that he believes that there is a "great uniformity among the actions of men". Hume seems to be not only describing the uniformity of men, but also of the universe. That "every natural effect is so precisely determined by the energy of its cause, that no other effect, in such particular circumstances, could possibly have resulted from it." Is this the same for mankind? Are we in a way predestined? Or the reaction of necessary force?
Hume says that our human nature basically remains the same, and that the same events happen from the same causes. Is there any room for spontaneity in Hume's world? What about some sort of chaos that is unnaturally provoked? I feel that Hume has us all lumped into one giant category that he forgets to examine the uniqueness of the individual, rather than the whole.
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