The Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals is a refinement of Hume's thinking on morality, in which he views sympathy as the fact of human nature lying at the basis of all social life and personal happiness. Instead of beginning his moral inquiry with questions of how morality ought to operate, he purports to investigate primarily how we actually do make moral judgments. Of The Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals Hume said, "of all my writings, historical, philosophical, or literary, incomparably the best." This book has stood the test of time, and has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations.