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In his writings, David Hume set out to bridge the gap between the learned world of the academy and the marketplace of polite society. This collection, drawing largely on his Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (1776 edition), which was even more popular than his famous Treatise of Human Nature, comprehensively shows how far he succeeded.
From `Of Essay Writing' to `Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences' Hume embraces a staggering range of social, cultural, political, demographic, and historical concerns. With the scope typical of the Scottish Enlightenment, he charts the state of civil society, manners, morals, and taste, and the development of political economy in the mid-eighteenth century. These essays represent not only those areas where Hume's arguments are revealingly typical of his day, but also where he is strikingly innovative in a period already famous for its great thinkers.
Introduction
Note on the Text
Select Bibliography
Chronology
1: Of Essay Writing
2: Of the Middle Station of Life
3: Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion
4: That Politics may be Reduced to a Science
5: Of the First Principles of Government
6: Of the Origin of Government
7: Of the Parties of Great Britain
8: Of Superstition and Enthusiasm
9: Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature
10: Of Civil Liberty
11: Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences
12: The Epicurean
13: The Stoic
14: The Platonist
15: The Sceptic
16: Of National Characters
17: Of Tragedy
18: Of the Standard of Taste
19: Of Commerce
20: Of Refinement in the Arts
21: Of Interest
22: Of the Balance of Trade
23: Of Public Credit
24: Of Some Remarkable Customs
25: Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations
26: Of the Original Contract
27: Of the Protestant Succession
28: Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth
29: On Suicide
30: On the Immortality of the Soul
Description
In his writings, David Hume set out to bridge the gap between the learned world of the academy and the marketplace of polite society. This collection, drawing largely on his Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (1776 edition), which was even more popular than his famous Treatise of Human Nature, comprehensively shows how far he succeeded.
From `Of Essay Writing' to `Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences' Hume embraces a staggering range of social, cultural, political, demographic, and historical concerns. With the scope typical of the Scottish Enlightenment, he charts the state of civil society, manners, morals, and taste, and the development of political economy in the mid-eighteenth century. These essays represent not only those areas where Hume's arguments are revealingly typical of his day, but also where he is strikingly innovative in a period already famous for its great thinkers.
