Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
The History of England
Hume's 1754-61 'History of England' — the bestselling history of the eighteenth century
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | The History of England (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Immediate |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Passive |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Impersonal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
The History of England
1754-1761 publication. Hume composed the volumes in reverse chronological order across this period.
Space
The History of England
Edinburgh — Hume's residence during composition (1751-63), where he was librarian of the Faculty of Advocates Library (a position that gave him access to the historical materials he needed).
Matter
The History of England
Six-volume history (~3000+ pages total). Form is narrative-historical with extensive footnotes, marginal scholarship, and political-philosophical reflection.
Observer
The History of England
Late Hume. The observer-historian is the philosophical Hume after the Treatise's failure, applying his philosophical-sceptical method to the historical materials of British political-religious history.
Energy
The History of England
Late-historical synthesising energies. The book required substantial archival research (which Hume conducted through the Advocates' Library); the writing took roughly a decade.
Information
The History of England
Six-volume multi-period history. The work's distinctive informational structure is the integration of political-narrative history with attention to manners, economic structure, and (especially) religious-political ideology.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The bestselling history of its century; the work that made Hume famous and wealthy. Standard reference text from the 1750s through Macaulay's 1848-61 countervailing History of England; cited by Edward Gibbon as an influence on the methodology of the Decline and Fall; still read for its Stuart-volume treatment of the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution.