Order and Artifice in Hume's Political Philosophy

Description

Frederick G. Whelan relates Hume's political theory to the other parts of his philosophy, including his epistemology, his account of human nature, and his ethics, emphasizing the unity of the whole. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print

"Whelan's book should take its place among the very best guides that we have to the unity of Hume's thought."--The Times Higher Education Supplement "Since David. Hume was first and foremost a philosopher, it would seem that the wisest approach to his political thought would be through his philosophy, most notably his ethics, theory of knowledge, and view of human nature. That is precisely the approach this book takes, and the result is a major contribution: both to the, history of political thought and to the history of ideas. Basing his account of his subject's philosophy largely on Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, Whelan ... relates Hume's essentially conservative political views to his philosophical skepticism."--Choice