‘As it is now clear that Hume is the Author of theAbstract, this short work can be enthusiastically recommended to those who wish to consider Hume's own account of the chief argument of theTreatise’ (Norton, 1993a). This ‘simplification’ of Hume'sAbstract aims to make it more accessible to a wider audience, especially to readers who do not have English as their first language. Some of Hume's own invented terms have been translated, many of his longer sentences divided, and most of his expressions simplified. The sequence of his arguments is preserved. Where needed, his arguments have been set out in traditional form. Topic headings have been added and some definitions appended. To ease reference to theAbstract, as published in Hume (1740b), the page numbers have been inserted near their correct position in square brackets.