David Hume and the Culture of Scottish Newtonianism
Subtitle: Methodology and Ideology in Enlightenment Inquiry
Publisher: Brill
Published: Sep 23, 2016
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9789004327313
Description: David Hume has a canonical place in the context of moral philosophy, but his insights are less frequently discussed in relation to natural philosophy. 'David Hume and the Culture of Scottish Newtonianism' offers a discussion of Hume's methodological and ideological commitments in matters of knowledge as reflected in his language and outlook. Tamas Demeter argues that several aspects of Hume's moral philosophy reflect post-Newtonian tendencies in the aftermath of the 'Opticks', and show affinities with Newton-inspired Scottish physiology and chemistry. Consequently, when Hume describes his project as an 'anatomy of the mind' he uses a metaphor that expresses his commitment to study human cognitive and affective functioning on analogy with active and organic nature, and not with the 'Principia's' world of inert matter.
Notes: Source title: David Hume and the Culture of Scottish Newtonianism: Methodology and Ideology in Enlightenment Inquiry (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History)