The Blackwell Guide to Humes Treatise

David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature is one of the most important works of modern philosophy. This Guide provides students with the scholarly and interpretive tools needed to begin mining Hume’s Treatise for philosophical insight. The Guide contains fifteen newly written chapters by leading Hume scholars. Each chapter guides the reader through a selected portion of the Treatise , explaining the central arguments, as well as key contemporary interpretations of those arguments. They cover such topics as: the formulation, reception, and scope of the Treatise ; the theory of impressions and ideas; imagination and memory; space and time; causation and causal inference; the passions; Hume’s treatment of belief in the external world and the self; the moral sentiments and their relation to reason; and the role of sympathy.

Notes on Contributors. References to the Threatise, Abstract, and Enquiries. Editor′s Introduction. Part I: Formulation, Reception and Scope of the Treatise: . 1. The Treatise: Composition, Reception and Response: John Wright (Central Michigan University). 2. Hume’s Other Writings:Wade Robison (Rochester Institute of Technology). Part II: The Understanding: . 3. Impressions and Ideas: Janet Broughton (University of California, Berkeley). 4. Space and Time: Lorne Falkenstein (University of Western Ontario). 5. Belief, Probability, Normativity: William Edward Morris (Illinois Wesleyan University). 6. Causation: Abraham Sesshu Roth (University of Illinois at Chicago). 7. Identity, Continued Existence, and the External World: Don Baxter (University of Connecticut). 8. Personal Identity and the Sceptical System of Philosophy: Corliss Gayda Swain (St. Olaf College). 9. Hume’s Conclusions in ‘Conclusion of this Book’: Don Garrett (New York University). Part III: The Passions: . 10. The Powers and Mechanisms of the Passions: Lilli Alanen (Uppsala University). 11. Hume’s “New and Extraordinary” Account of the Passions: Jane McIntyre (Cleveland State University). 12. Liberty, Necessity and the Will: Tony Pitson (University of Stirling). Part IV: Morals: . 13. Reason, Passion and the Influencing Motives of the Will: Mike Karlsson (University of Iceland). 14. Hume’s Artificial and Natural Virtues: Rachel Cohon (University at Albany, State University of New York). 15. Virtue and the Evaluation of Character: Jacqueline Taylor (University of San Francisco). Index

Saul Traiger is Professor of Philosophy at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. He is the past president of the Hume Society, and has published numerous articles and reviews on Hume’s metaphysics and epistemology, as well as articles in contemporary epistemology, philosophy of mind, and the foundations of cognitive science.

“The Blackwell Guide to Hume’s Treatise is a very welcome arrival, an antidote to the selective attention from which the Treatise has often suffered. The contributors set out and assess Hume’s main doctrines and arguments across the whole Treatise , bringing out links between its different parts, and situating the work in its biographical and philosophical context. The result is an excellent introduction to one of the major works of western philosophy.” Stephen Buckle, Australian Catholic University “This is an excellent addition to an excellent series. Saul Traiger has solicited an impressive collection of original essays covering all the parts of Hume’s most important, but also most baffling, work. The authors include most of the world’s leading Hume scholars. Their work is authoritative, but is also very clearly presented, so that the volume will be accessible to college students as well useful for expert philosophers. Highly recommended!” Vere Chappell, University of Massachusetts