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

David Fate Norton (Editor), Jacqueline Taylor (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521677343 | ISBN-13: 978-0521677349 | Publication Date: December 8, 2008 | Edition: 2

Each Cambridge Companion to a philosophical figure is made up of specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars, providing students and non-specialists with an introduction to a major philosopher. The series aims to dispel the intimidation that readers may feel when faced with the work of a challenging thinker. David Hume is now considered one of the most important philosophers of the Western world. Although best known for his contributions to the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion, Hume also influenced developments in the philosophy of mind, psychology, ethics, political and economic theory, political and social history, and aesthetic theory. The fifteen essays in this volume address all aspects of Hume's thought. The picture of him that emerges is that of a thinker who, though often critical to the point of skepticism, was nonetheless able to build on that skepticism a constructive, viable, and profoundly important view of the world. Also included in this volume are Hume's two brief autobiographies and a bibliography suited to those beginning their study of Hume. This second edition of one our most popular Companions includes six new essays and a new introduction, and the remaining essays have all been updated or revised.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"....This volume moves beyond the two-dimensional description of Hume as the destructive skeptic in order to highlight the constructive and innovative dimensions of Hume's thought.... the essays offer a topical focus with a progression that is modeled after Hume's own development of thought.... a rich contextualization for the reader to gain a fuller sense of Hume's thoughts and influence in numerous arenas that have a lasting significance today."
--Jennifer Powell McNutt, Wheaton College, Illinois

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (December 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521677343
• ISBN-13: 978-0521677349
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,784 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.