The Cambridge Companion to Hume (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) [Paperback]

David Fate Norton (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521387108 | ISBN-13: 978-0521387101 | Publication Date: October 29, 1993

David Hume is, arguably, the most important philosopher ever to have written in English. Although best known for his contributions to epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion, Hume also made substantial and influential contributions to psychology and the philosophy of mind, ethics, the philosophy of science, political and economic theory, political and social history, and to a lesser extent, aesthetic and literary theory. All facets of Hume's output are discussed in this volume, the first genuinely comprehensive overview of his work. The picture that emerges is of a thinker, who, though critical to the point of skepticism, was nonetheless able to build on that skepticism a profoundly important, and still viable, constructive philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Hume's mother reportedly lamented, "Our Davie is a fine good-natured critter, but uncommon weak-minded." Perhaps she would have been comforted to know that today her son is widely considered to be the most important philosopher ever to have written in the English language. The Companion's 11 essays take the reader from Hume's precocious Treatise of Human Nature--published in 1739, when he was only 28--to the posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, and cover not only the subjects central to Hume's philosophy but also his views on politics, economics, literary and aesthetic theory, and even history. As David Wootton's essay observes, the British Library catalog identifies Hume as "the historian"--"to the puzzlement," Wootton quips, "of generations of philosophers." Also included are Hume's two short autobiographies, written in his own inimitable style: he describes the unexcited reaction to his Treatise by saying that "it fell dead-born from the press, without reaching such distinction as even to excite a murmur among the zealots."

The contributors to the Companion are among the most respected contemporary Hume scholars; their essays are uniformly clear and accessible. Robert J. Fogelin's article on Hume's skepticism, Knud Haakonssen's article on Hume's political theory, and J.C.A. Gaskin's article on Hume's philosophy of religion are particularly worthwhile, as is the substantial bibliography. Although the Companion is not aimed at the specialist, neither is it for the philosophical novice--still, anyone interested in Hume's life and work would benefit from perusing it. --Glenn Branch

Review

"The breadth of The Cambridge Companion to Hume matches the sweeping scope of Hume's thought....Even though each essay considers in depth a distinct area of Hume's thinking, this volume has the cohesiveness of a text, with some of the authors writing with an explicit awareness of other essays included in the collection....Norton has admirably produced a book that will serve as an invaluable and enduring repository of accessible presentations by accomplished scholars on the major areas of Hume's thought." Elizabeth S. Radcliffe, Philosophical Review

"...a valuable resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate classes....Though Hume specialists will surely find this book helpful--especially as a starting point for filling in gaps in their knowledge--it is crafted with a larger audience in mind. Nonspecialists will find the essays accessible and stimulating, full of useful material both about Hume's intellectual context and about Hume's contributions to shaping issues that grip us now." Ira Singer, Ethics

"...an attarctive volume. It will be useful both to those who want to see the grand design of Hume's work as well as those who are interested only in his contributions to one or another discipline." John Immerwahr, International Studies in Philosophy

"...individual articles will be useful to those teaching Hume, and will provide an excellent resource for students or researchers who are writing on one of these topics. In my judgement, the book is generally reliabel..." Nathan Brett, Dialogue

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Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521387108
• ISBN-13: 978-0521387101
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,236,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Compendium, July 22, 2004

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R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Hume (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

The goal of this collection of essays is to provide background and commentary of important aspects of the work of David Hume. The intent of this book is to provide guidance and context for individuals reading Hume. This book easily exceeds those goals. The authors are all well known experts on Hume and this book covers the whole spectrum of Hume's output from his seminal philosophical works through his essays and historical works. While this is an apparently diverse set of topics, important themes connect the essays. Several essays stress the 'positive' or constructive aspects of Hume's epistemology and theory of mind, an aspect of his thought that recurs strongly in his writings on moral, political, economic, and historical topics. Several essays stress Hume's uniform emphasis on a 'scientific' methodology in approaching many subjects. Overall, this volume gives a strong sense of the underlying unity of Hume's work. All of these essays are at least good. There are particularly good essays by Norton on Hume's work on morals, Hakonsson's on Hume's political theory, Fogelin on Hume's skepticism, Gaskin on Hume's criticism of religion,and an enlightening essay on Hume's work as a historian. The other essays are useful. The high quality of these essays makes this book valuable for a broad audience. It can be read profitably by individuals just exploring Hume and I suspect it would be equally useful for more experienced scholars and teachers.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A General Introduction to Hume's Philosophy, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Hume (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

The complex and often radical ideas formulated by Scotland's "Man of the Millenuim" are explained clearly and plainly in this companion without neglecting the more difficult issues that will concern students of philsophy. This book is particularly helpful in its discussion of Hume's scepticism and his views on morality and politics. It also provides a concise overview of Hume's empirical psychology.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to Hume, January 19, 2008

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Greg (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Hume (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

David Hume is a famous if somewhat controversial thinker. His skeptical approach to Philosophical issues created important questions on many vital issues in philosophy, especially concerning religion, metaphysics and epistemology. Hume was also a great historian, political writer, acute psychologist and budding economist, as the later essays in this volume show. As with the other Cambridge Companions, this offers a valuable guide to the thought of Hume with clarity and rigor by leading experts in the field. It is a must read for any student, undergraduate, graduate or lay, of Hume's philosophy or the philosophy of the early modern period.