A Companion to Hume

David Hume’s revolutionary philosophies took an empirical approach to the study of human nature. Controversial in his time, he was accused of everything from atheism to moral corruption; he has since been recognized as one of the foremost thinkers of the late modern period, influencing the thought of nearly every philosopher in his wake. The arguments presented in his writings have survived three centuries of varying perspectives, and have had a lasting influence on the philosophy of mind, knowledge, religion, action, morality, economics, and politics. A Companion to Hume is the ideal resource for the study of one of history’s most remarkable thinkers, demonstrating the range of Hume’s work and illuminating the ongoing debates that they have generated. Comprised of twenty–nine expertly commissioned essays addressing such expansive topics of knowledge, passion, morality, religion, economics, and politics, this collection examines the paradoxes of Hume’s thought and his legacy, covering the methods, themes, and consequences of his contributions to philosophy.

Notes on Contributors viii Acknowledgments xii Note on Citations xiii Introduction 1 Hume’s Context 19 1 Hume in the Enlightenment Tradition 21 Stephen Buckle Part I Mind and Knowledge 39 2 Hume’s Theory of Ideas 41 Don Garrett 3 Hume on Memory and Imagination 58 Saul Traiger 4 Hume and the Origin of Our Ideas of Space and Time 72 Wayne Waxman 5 Hume on the Relation of Cause and Effect 89 Francis Watanabe Dauer 6 Inductive Inference in Hume’s Philosophy 106 Louis E. Loeb 7 Hume on Belief in the External World 126 Michel Malherbe 8 Hume on Personal Identity 140 Donald C. Ainslie Part II Passions and Action 157 9 Hume’s Indirect Passions 159 Rachel Cohon 10 Hume on the Direct Passions and Motivation 185 Tito Magri 11 Hume on Liberty and Necessity 201 John Bricke Part III Morality and Beauty 217 12 Hume on Moral Rationalism, Sentimentalism, and Sympathy 219 Charlotte R. Brown 13 Sympathy and Hume’s Spectator–centered Theory of Virtue 240 Kate Abramson 14 Hume’s Theory of Justice, or Artificial Virtue 257 Eugenio Lecaldano 15 Hume on Beauty and Virtue 273 Jacqueline Taylor 16 Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals: Incomparably the Best? 293 Annette C. Baier Part IV Religion 321 17 Hume’s Views on Religion: Intellectual and Cultural Influences 323 Terence Penelhum 18 Hume on the Nature and Existence of God 338 Martin Bell 19 Hume on Miracles and Immortality 353 Michael P. Levine Part V Economics, Politics, and History 371 20 Hume’s Economic Theory 373 Tatsuya Sakamoto 21 “One of the Finest and Most Subtile Inventions”: Hume on Government 388 Richard H. Dees 22 “The Most Illustrious Philosopher and Historian of the Age”: Hume’s History of England 406 Mark Salber Phillips Part VI Contemporary Themes 423 23 Hume’s Naturalism and His Skepticism 425 Janet Broughton 24 Is Hume a Realist or an Anti–realist? 441 P. J. E. Kail 25 Hume’s Epistemological Legacy 457 William Edward Morris 26 The Humean Theory of Motivation and Its Critics 477 Elizabeth S. Radcliffe 27 The Sources of Normativity in Hume’s Moral Theory 493 Tom L. Beauchamp 28 Hume’s Metaethics: Is Hume a Moral Noncognitivist? 513 Nicholas L. Sturgeon Bibliography 529 Index 553

Elizabeth S. Radcliffe is Professor of Philosophy at The College of William and Mary. She has published on the British Moralists and on Hume’s metaethics and motivational psychology. She was co–editor of the journal Hume Studies , with Kenneth Winkler, from 2000 until 2005. She is currently working on issues surrounding the contemporary Humean theory of motivation and its connection to Hume.

"This is a superb collection of essays by both established Hume scholars and newer names in Hume studies . . . such books do this job very well and this one on Hume especially so: the reader is fortunate to have as guides, Louis Loeb on induction, Rachel Cohon on the passions, and Terence Penelhum on religion, to pick, as examples, just three of the excellent range of authors". (Metapsychology Online Reviews, 2011) "Blackwell′s fortieth Companion to Philosophy is a splendid and long–overdue Companion to Hume , expertly pulled together by Elizabeth Radcliffe, a former editor of the journal Hume Studies . Although the Blackwell Companions are promoted as a student reference series, this particular volume is clearly of considerable value to serious scholars as well." (Religion in the Age of Enlightenment, December 2010)"One distinctive feature of this Blackwell Companion to Hume is that it attempts to be more careful than is common with books of its sort to mark a distinction between explicating Hume′s own ideas and arguments, and assessing their relevance to present–day philosophical discussion." ( Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews , February 2009) "[The book is] highly approachable, well–organized, and—in a field where a lot is published—a distinctive addition." ( Reference Reviews , Issue 7 2008) "The essays are of uniformly high quality, and many are written by well–established, respected philosophers.... David Hume is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential figures in modern philosophy. Every library should have a copy of this valuable resource, which will appeal to anyone interested in Hume′s philosophy. Highly recommended." ( Choice )