Hume's "Treatise of human nature"
Subtitle: an introduction
By: John P. Wright.
Series: Cambridge introductions to key philosophical texts
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521833769
Subjects: Hume, David, -- 1711-1776; Knowledge, Theory of; Emotions (Philosophy); Ethics; Skepticism; Reason; Philosophical anthropology
Description: "David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40) presents the most important account of skepticism in the history of modern philosophy. In this lucid and thorough introduction to the work, John P. Wright examines the development of Hume's ideas in the Treatise, their relation to eighteenth-century theories of the imagination and passions, and the reception they received when Hume published the Treatise. He explains Hume's arguments concerning the inability of reason to establish the basic beliefs which underlie science and morals, as well as his arguments showing why we are nevertheless psychologically compelled to accept such beliefs. The book will be a valuable guide for those seeking to understand the nature of modern skepticism and its connection with the founding of the human sciences during the Enlightenment"--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface; 1. The author and the book; 2. First principles; 3. Causation; 4. Skepticism; 5. Determinism; 6. Passions, sympathy, and others' minds; 7. Motivation: reason and the calm passions; 8. Moral sense, reason, and moral skepticism; 9. The foundations of morals; Bibliography and further reading; Index.