… Hume’, 1766, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, PG 1057. Abstract David Hume was a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment and an active participant in European networks. He believed in the power of sociability, in the fundamental … the Republic of Letters , and finally at philosophy as the practice of sociability. People > Philosophy Keywords Clubs Enlightenment France Philosophy Republic of Letters Salons Scotland Societies David Hume’s original position in … Life of David Hume, esq. Written by Himself (London, 1777), p. 8-9. The role he played in the definition of the Scottish Enlightenment invites further consideration of what constituted, for Hume, a philosopher in the eighteenth century. The …