A Companion to Hume

Comprised of twenty-nine specially commissioned essays, A Companion to Hume examines the depth of the philosophies and influence of one of history's most remarkable thinkers.

• Demonstrates the range of Hume's work and illuminates the ongoing debates that it has generated
• Organized by subject, with introductions to each section to orient the reader
• Explores topics such as knowledge, passion, morality, religion, economics, and politics
• 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

"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. A book for academic and specialist libraries almost exclusively." (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, November 2008)

Elizabeth S. Radcliffe is Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University. Her areas of specialization include Hume, ethical theory, motivational psychology, and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy. She is the author of On Hume (2000), editor of A Companion to Hume (Blackwell, 2007), and was co-editor of the journal Hume Studies from 2000 to 2005. 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.

"An outstanding collection that will be both a guide for students and a stimulus to scholars. Elizabeth Radcliffe and her distinguished contributors cast fresh and clarifying light on each of the many topics they address."
–Kenneth Winkler, Yale University

"Elizabeth Radcliffe has achieved a remarkable feat of editorial organization. This will be a major reference resource for those who want to see the main directions in which Hume studies are currently heading. Topics are well chosen. Contributors range from some of our most distinguished senior scholars to talented recruits from the rising generation."
–M.A. Stewart, University of Aberdeen