Hume

Description

Beginning with an overview of Hume's life and work, Garrett introduces in clear and accessible style the central aspects of Hume's thought. These include Hume's lifelong exploration of the human mind; his theories of inductive inference and causation; skepticism and personal identity; moral and political philosophy; aesthetics; and philosophy of religion. The final chapter considers the influence and legacy of Hume's thought today. Throughout, Garrett draws on and explains many of Hume's central works, including his Treatise of Human Nature, Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding, and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Hume is essential reading not only for students of philosophy, but anyone in the humanities and social sciences and beyond seeking an introduction to Hume's thought.

Don Garrett is Professor of Philosophy, at New York University, USA. He works primarily in early modern philosophy, with special interests in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and ethics. He is the author of Cognition and Commitment in Hume's Philosophy (1997) and the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza (1996). He has served as co-editor of Hume Studies and as North American editor of Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie.

"This is an outstanding, incredibly stimulating book. It contains ground-breaking discussions within its pages, including the attention paid to Hume's account of mental representation, the centrality in Hume of what Garrett calls 'sense-based' concepts, and a fascinating reconstruction of Hume's naturalistic account of normativity. It will be studied and debated for years to come." - P. J. E. Kail, University of Oxford, UK "The best introductory treatment of Hume's philosophy on the market. More than this, Garrett shows how Hume's project is unified by the common structure of the senses - including moral and 'causal' senses - which shape our conceptions of the world, and enable our critical engagement with it." - Donald C. Ainslie, University of Toronto, Canada