Table Of ContentOPINION AND REFORM IN HUME'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
OPINION AND REFORM IN
HUME'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
John B. Stewart
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
COPYRIGHT © 3992 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 41 WILLIAM STREET,
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGIWG-IN-PLrBLICAnON DATA
STEWART, JOHN B. (JOHN BENJAMIN), 1924-
OPINION AND REFORM IN HUME'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY/ JOHN B.
STEWART.
P. CM.
INCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEX.
ISBN 0-691-08626-5
1. HUME, DAVID, 1711-1776—CONTRIBUTIONS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
2. HUME, DAVID, 1711-1776—CONTRIBUTIONS IN POLITICAL ETHICS.
I. TITLE.
JC176.H9S74 1992 320'.01-DC20 91-35909
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN COMPOSED IN L1NOTRON SABON
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS ARE
PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER, AND MEET THE GUIDELINES
FOR PERMANENCE AND DURABILITY OF THE COMMITTEE
ON PRODUCTION GUIDELINES FOR BOOK LONGEVITY
OF THE COUNCIL ON LIBRARY RESOURCES
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2
Ilml~~fll~;~£~111 I~i;il;~ 1"'"lilll~ij"lll
32101 020765457
CONTENTS
PREFACE VII
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE lX
Introduction 3
ONE
The Argument before Hume: The Legalists' Dilemma 13
TWO
The Argument before Hume: Beginning a New Science 47
THREE
Morality Explained 109
FOUR
Civil Society 152
FIVE
Hume and Reform: Discovering True Principles 194
SIX
Changing the British Mind 224
INDEX 319
PREFACE
W
HEN I BEGAN reading Hume in the 1950s, few studies of his
moral and political philosophy were available; at that time
scholarly work was focused almost exclusively on his episte-
mology. Since then, however, not only has Book I of the Treatise retained
its place as a work of fundamental importance in philosophy, but scholars
have gone forward to study Hume's views on "moral subjects"—eco
nomics, government, and history. In writing the chapters here presented,
I have benefited greatly from books and articles by that large company of
scholars who now study eighteenth-century British moral philosophy.
It is a polite, industrious company. To acknowledge here all the obli
gations I have incurred among its members would be impossible. Suffice
it to say that I have profited from many works, perhaps learning more
from authors with whom I disagreed—for example, those prominently
mentioned in this book—than from many of those with whom I agreed.
However, certain scholars must be singled out for thanks—and to do so
is a great pleasure—because they participated directly in the writing of
this book. Professor Μ. M. Goldsmith, then of Exeter University, En
gland, and now of Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, made
perceptive observations on chapters 2,5, and 6. Professor Russell Hardin,
of the University of Chicago, commented constructively on the entire
manuscript; he was especially helpful in showing me how best to marshal
my argument that Hume was not a conservative. I owe most to Professor
David Fate Norton of McGill University. He read the entire manuscript
at two stages of its development; on both occasions he proposed some
major and many minor changes. I am grateful to these scholars: they
prompted important improvements; yet they were content to let me write
my own book.
In 1979-1980 when, as a member of the faculty of St. Francis Xavier
University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, I was beginning the research that
produced this book, I was assisted by a sabbatical leave award from the
Humanities and Social Science Research Council of Canada. With plea
sure I record my gratitude.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE
Editions of Hume's works used:
A Treatise of Human Nature. Edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge. Second edition
by P. H. Nidditch (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978). Cited as Treatise
and, for page references in the text, as T.
Enquiries concerning Human Understanding and concerning the Princi
ples of Morals. The 1777 edition, edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge. Third
edition by P. H. Nidditch (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975). An En
quiry concerning the Principles of Morals is cited in the footnotes as
Enquiry II and, for page references in the text, as E.
The History of Great Britain: The Reigns of James I and Charles I. First
edition. Republished with an introduction by Duncan Forbes (Har-
mondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1970). Cited as History of Great
Britain.
The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to The Revo
lution in 1688, 6 vols. Reprint of the 1778 edition with a foreword by
W. B. Todd (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 1983). Cited as History
of England and, for page references in the text, as H.
Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. Reprint of the 1777 edition (with
an apparatus of variant readings from the 1889 edition by Τ. H. Green
and Τ. H. Grose) with a foreword and editorial additions by E. F.
Miller (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 1985). Cited as Essays.
The Natural History of Religion and Dialogues concerning Natural Re
ligion, the former edited by A. W. Colver, the latter by J. V. Price (Ox
ford: Clarendon Press, 1976).
The Letters of David Hume, 2 vols. Edited by J.Y.T. Greig (Oxford: Clar
endon Press, 1932). Cited as Letters.
New Letters of David Hume. Edited by Raymond Klibansky and E. C.
Mossner (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954). Cited as New Hume Let
ters.
