▸ HEAD-TO-HEAD

HUME VS LOCKE

Hume
1711–1776
What's true is what survives the test.
Locke
1632–1704
What is is not what must be.

▸ WHERE THEY SHARPLY DISAGREED

The three dimensions on which Hume and Locke are farthest apart on Mull's 0–10 scale.

  • Skeptical ReflexΔ 4 / 10
    Hume: 10/10
    Locke: 6/10

    clearly (4/10): Hume holds doubt and suspended judgment as a discipline; Locke is more willing to commit.

  • Universalist ImpulseΔ 4 / 10
    Hume: 3/10
    Locke: 7/10

    clearly (4/10): Locke reaches for universal moral principles; Hume weighs particular contexts more heavily.

  • Self as IllusionΔ 4 / 10
    Hume: 7/10
    Locke: 3/10

    clearly (4/10): Hume treats the unified self as an illusion or construction; Locke takes the self as more given.

▸ WHERE THEY OVERLAPPED

Where the gap is smallest — both with meaningful presence on the dimension (not "neither cared").

  • Vital Affirmationgap 0 / 10
    Hume: 6/10
    Locke: 6/10

    Both register moderate vital affirmation.

  • Embodied Sensibilitygap 1 / 10
    Hume: 6/10
    Locke: 5/10

    Both register moderate embodied sensibility.

  • Practical Orientationgap 1 / 10
    Hume: 7/10
    Locke: 8/10

    Both lean strongly into practical orientation.

▸ ALL 16 DIMENSIONS

The full vector comparison. Bars show their 0–10 scores side-by-side.

  • Ascetic TendencyΔ 1
  • Communal EmbeddednessΔ 1
  • Embodied SensibilityΔ 1
  • Mystical ReceptivityΔ 1
  • Practical OrientationΔ 1
  • Reverence for TraditionΔ 1
  • Self as IllusionΔ 4
  • Skeptical ReflexΔ 4
  • Sovereign SelfΔ 1
  • Theoretical DriveΔ 2
  • Trust in ExperienceΔ 1
  • Trust in ReasonΔ 3
  • Tragic VisionΔ 1
  • Universalist ImpulseΔ 4
  • Vital AffirmationΔ 0
  • Will to PowerΔ 2
HUMELOCKE
What to do next

Where do you sit between Hume and Locke?

  1. 01 · QUIZ
    The Inheritor
    Take the quiz — see which of them you sit closer to on the map.
    CONTINUE ▶
  2. 02 · PROFILE
    Montaigne
    A third thinker who sits between them — useful for triangulating.
    CONTINUE ▶
  3. 03 · ARENA
    Argue Hume
    Face Hume in a 5-minute single-turn debate, judged on rigor.
    CONTINUE ▶