Cognition and Commitment in Hume's Philosophy [Paperback]

Don Garrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2002

It is widely believed that Hume often wrote carelessly and contradicted himself, and that no unified, sound philosophy emerges from his writings. Don Garrett demonstrates that such criticisms of Hume are without basis. Offering fresh and trenchant solutions to longstanding problems in Hume studies, Garrett's penetrating analysis also makes clear the continuing relevance of Hume's philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A significant contribution to Hume studies."--Jonathan Bennett, Syracuse University

"I know of no other writer on Hume who has been this assiduous in finding interpretive difficulties in the text and then taking them head on....Beautifully written."--Robert J. Fogelin, Dartmouth College

"Garrett's Cognition and Commitment is a first-rate interpretive study, one that unties a great many interpretive knots."--Ethics

"Garrett seeks mainly to show that Hume's position is internally consistent and to build a portrait of Hume as essentially a cognitive psychologist."--The Review of Metaphysics

About the Author

Don Garrett is at University of North Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195159594
• ISBN-13: 978-0195159592
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hume: The Pioneering Cognitive Psychologist, September 24, 2005

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D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cognition and Commitment in Hume's Philosophy (Paperback)

If only all philosophers wrote with such lucidity, clarity, and concision! This is a most articulate and descriptive analysis of Hume's thought in context of those who preceded him and detractors who have followed. Garrett is a first-rate apologist, not of the philosopher, but of the cognitive psychologist, David Hume. From the outset, Garrett regards Hume's significant contributions to cognitive psychology as first rate and unparalleled in history. What Garrett shows on this interpretation is that Hume uses the philosophical method to explicate his cognitive psychology.

Garrett first contextualizes Hume in the empirical school of philosophy vis-a-vis the rationalists; experience sola is normative, everything else speculation. But Hume's philosophy is less pronounced than his psychology, which dominates all his thought. Hume intends not to speculate, but observe, and make generalizations about his observations in regards to human understanding, passions, and sentiments - i.e., human nature. Seen in this light, many of the irreconcilable problems philosophers have raised concerning Hume seem to dissipate, and a new appreciation for his cognitive insights become more pronounced.

Garrett's heuristic approach is very Thomistic in tenor and form. Similar to Aquinas, he posits Hume's theories in a brief synopsis, outlines the controversies it has provoked, provides a logical framework to provide answers, and then answers the critics. The first chapter, in addition to a historical context, also established the essential frameworks that Hume works within: (1) Imagination vs. Intellect; (2) the Copy Principle; (3) Evidentiary Inferences; (4) the Five Kinds of Empiricism; (5) the Separability Principle; (6) the Philosophical Method of Cognitive Psychology; and (7) Reason vs. Induction. The remainder of the book examines Hume's central tenets in light of the foregoing: (i) The definitions of `cause;' (ii) liberty and necessity; (iii) on miracles; (iv) personal identity; (v) moral evaluation; and (vi) skepticism and commitment.

Unlike Norman Kemp Smith's excellent, but slightly outdated, "Philosophy of David Hume," written near the middle of the 20th C., Garrett tackles both religion and moral commitment after his exegesis of Hume's epistemology - in the same order as found in Hume's "Treatise on Human Nature." Also unlike Smith, Garrett goes beyond the THN to examine all of Hume's work, where he finds considerable consistency of mind and approach. Also unlike Smith, Garrett is far more deferential to Hume; this book is definitely a defense against the critics. That's not to say Garrett is unabashed in his favoritism; he acknowledges some of Hume's shortcomings. But where possible, Garrett, using the paradigm of cognitive psychology, defends Hume in an intelligent, concise, and elegant manner. I recommend both, starting first with Smith; but if access is limited to only one, let it be Garrett's.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Maybe for Devoted Fans of Hume, December 30, 2008

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Reader From Aurora - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cognition and Commitment in Hume's Philosophy (Paperback)

`Cognition and Commitment in Hume's Philosophy' by Don Garrett is a combination of new and previously published material by the author.

In examining the work of important historic thinkers there are two common errors to which commentators often succumb; on the one hand, there is the tendency to remove these works from their historic context and present them an easily refuted strawmen, while, on the other hand there is the overly apologetic approach which attempts to paper over any and all oversights, inconsistencies or errors, and transform the works into timeless inerrant pieces of philosophical scripture.

While Garrett makes some token efforts to recognize the limitations of Hume's work, he is well within the camp of commentators seeking to canonize Hume and his writing. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Hume and believe him to be a significant contributor to early modern philosophy. I do, however, think there are well documented gaps and inconsistencies in his writing. Indeed, when looking back at his Treatise (written while still in his twenties), even Hume seems to recognize some of its shortcomings.

As with much contemporary philosophy, Garret's work is part of an internecine discussion amongst academics, and as such, is probably only of interest to devotees of Hume. That said, having recently re-read the Treatise and the Enquiries I found Garrett's discussion, if not completely convincing, at least interesting in parts. For example, the chapter on miracles is worth a read. Hume's comments regarding miracles are amongst his most famous and most criticized. Garrett lays out many of the criticisms of Hume's argument and then attempts to reconstruct the miracle argument in a more compelling and coherent manner. Although creative in this regard , Garrett ends up transforming Hume's argument against miracles' in a trivial truism along the lines of "only believe in something if you think you have reason to believe". Garrett's approach and result is similar with respect Hume's position on topics.

On a more mundane level, the soft cover version of the book is difficult to use - the font is tiny (the extensive quotes vanishingly so). Maybe this is less of an issue with young eyes; however, I found it difficult to read.

Overall, while I am a fan of Hume, I would pass on this one - at least at anything close to the list price. At a reduced price (I got mine new for 3$), it may be worth a look for hard core devotees of Hume.