Commentary

[in chronological order]

David Hume Society Resources

The website of the David Hume Society contains link to much useful scholarship devoted to Hume, including the journal “Hume Studies.”

David Hume and America by Tom Velk & Jade Xiao [Full Text]

- Tom Velk and Jade Xiao, "David Hume and America, Then and Now," Great Thinkers, October, 2017.
David Hume and his influence on the American founders (notably Alexander Hamilton) by Tom Velk and Jade Xiao. Excerpt: The lessons laid out in Hume’s Essays and the History were carefully read at the time of their composition by many of America’s… More

Hume: An Intellectual Biography

- Harris, James, Hume: An Intellectual Biography, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
From the Publisher: This is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the entire career of one of Britain’s greatest men of letters. It sets in biographical and historical context all of Hume’s works, from A Treatise of Human Nature to… More

Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment by Thomas Merrill

- Merrill, Thomas W. Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
From the publisher: “‘Methinks I am like a man, who having narrowly escap’d shipwreck,’ David Hume writes in A Treatise of Human Nature, ‘has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even… More

Hume’s Politics by Andrew Sabl

- Sabl, Andrew, Hume's Politics: Coordination and Crisis in the History of England, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
From the publisher: “Hume’s Politics provides a comprehensive examination of David Hume’s political theory, and is the first book to focus on Hume’s monumental History of England as the key to his distinctly political ideas. Andrew… More

David Hume and Eighteenth Century America

- Spencer, Mark. David Hume and Eighteenth Century America, Rochester: Rochester University Press, 2010.
From the Publisher: This book explores the reception of David Hume’s political thought in eighteenth-century America. It presents a challenge to standard interpretations that assume Hume’s thought had little influence in early America.… More

Introduction to Hume’s treatise by John Wright

- Wright, John P. Hume's “A Treatise of Human Nature”: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
From the publisher: David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40) presents the most important account of skepticism in the history of modern philosophy. In this lucid and thorough introduction to the work, John P. Wright examines the development… More

A Companion to Hume

- Radcliffe, Elizabeth S., ed. A Companion to Hume, Oxford: Blackwell, 2008.
From the publisher: Comprised of twenty-nine specially commissioned essays, A Companion to Hume examines the depth of the philosophies and influence of one of history’s most remarkable thinkers. -Demonstrates the range of Hume’s work and… More

The Cambridge Companion to Hume Ed. David Norton

- Norton, David Fate, and Jacqueline Taylor, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Hume. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
From the publisher: “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… More

How to Read: Hume

- Blackburn, Simon. How to Read: Hume, London: Granta, 2008.
From the publisher: David Hume is generally recognized as England’s greatest philosopher, as well as a notable historian and essayist. Yet his work is delicately poised between scepticism and naturalism, between despair at the limited powers of the mind… More

Custom and Reason in Hume

- Allison, Henry E. Custom and Reason in Hume, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
From the publisher: Henry Allison examines the central tenets of Hume’s epistemology and cognitive psychology, as contained in the Treatise of Human Nature. Allison takes a distinctive two-level approach. On the one hand, he considers Hume’s… More

The Blackwell Guide to Hume’s Treatise

- Traiger, Saul, ed. The Blackwell Guide to Hume's Treatise, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
From the publisher: This Guide provides students with the scholarly and interpretive tools they need to understand Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature and its influence on modern philosophy. A student guide to Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature. Focuses… More

The Rhetoric of Rebellion in Hume’s Constitutional Thought

- Merrill, Thomas, "The Rhetoric of Rebellion in Hume's Constitutional Thought," The Review of Politics, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Spring, 2005), pp. 257-282
In his History of England, David Hume suggests that the doctrine of resistance should be concealed from the populace. But this suggestion in the very public location of the History has the effect of revealing this doctrine as much as concealing it. How should… More

Hume’s Enlightenment Tract: The Unity and Purpose of “An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding”,

- Buckle, Stephen. Hume's Enlightenment Tract: The Unity and Purpose of “An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding”, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004.
From the publisher: This is the first full book-length study in forty years of David Hume’s Enquiry concerning Human Understanding-which, contrary to its author’s expressed wishes, long lived in the shadow of its predecessor A Treatise of Human… More

“Religion in the Public Square: A Reconsideration of Hume and Religious Establishment” by Will Jordan

- Jordan, Will, "Religion in the Public Square: A Reconsideration of David Hume and Religious Establishment," Review of Politics, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 687-713.
Abstract: While recent scholarship has attempted to clarify the Founders’ opposition to religious establishment, few pause to consider public establishment as a viable alternative. This study examines one of the eighteenth century’s least likely… More

Reading Hume on Human Understanding

- Millican, Peter., ed. Reading Hume on Human Understanding, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002.
From the publisher: This companion to the study of one of the great works of Western philosophy–David Hume’s Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748)–provides a general overview of the Enquiry, especially for those approaching it for… More

Stability and Justification in Hume’s “Treatise”

- Loeb, Louis E. Stability and Justification in Hume's “Treatise”, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
From the publisher: David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature is famous for its extreme skepticism. Louis Loeb argues that Hume’s destructive conclusions have in fact obscured a constructive stage that Hume abandons prematurely. Working within a… More

Hume: Moral and Political Philosophy,

- Cohon, Rachel, ed. Hume: Moral and Political Philosophy, Aldershot: England and Burlington, Vermont: Dartmouth/Ashgate, 2001.
From the publisher: This volume collects the best recent essays about the primary themes in Hume’s ethics and political philosophy, reflecting the explosion of new work on these topics spanning the last thirty years. It includes articles about… More

Hume’s Reason

- Owen, David. Hume's Reason, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
From the publisher: David Owen explores Hume’s account of reason and its role in human understanding, seen in the context of other notable accounts by philosophers of the early modern period. Owen offers new interpretations of many of Hume’s most… More

Hume: A Very Short Introduction

- Ayer, Alfred. Hume: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
From the publisher: Hume’s “naturalist” approach to a wide variety of philosophical topics resulted in highly original theories about perception, self-identity, causation, morality, politics, and religion, all of which are discussed in this… More

Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium: Hume’s Pathology of Philosophy

- Livingstone, David. Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium: Hume's Pathology of Philosophy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
From the publisher: The Scottish philosopher David Hume is commonly understood as the original proponent of the “end of philosophy.” In this powerful new study, Donald Livingston completely revises our understanding of Hume’s thought through… More

Freedom and Moral Sentiment

- Russell, Paul. Freedom and Moral Sentiment, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
From the publisher: In this book, Russell examines Hume’s notion of free will and moral responsibility. It is widely held that Hume presents us with a classic statement of the “compatibilist” position–that freedom and responsibility… More

A Progress of Sentiments

- Baier, Annette C. A Progress of Sentiments, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.
From the publisher: Annette Baier’s aim is to make sense of David Hume’s Treatise as a whole. Hume’s family motto, which appears on his bookplate, was “True to the End.” Baier argues that it is not until the end of the Treatise that we get his… More

David Hume and the Problem of Reason

- John Danford, "David Hume and the Problem of Reason," New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.
This out-of-print but important book for the understanding of Hume attempts to view the unity in Hume’s writing, whether historical or philosophical.

The Suasive Art of David Hume

- Box, M. A., The Suasive Art of David Hume, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
From the publisher: Recognized in his day as a man of letters equaling Rousseau and Voltaire in France and rivaling Samuel Johnson, David Hume passed from favor in the Victorian age–his work, it seemed, did not pursue Truth but rather indulged in… More

Hume’s Place in Moral Philosophy

- Capaldi, Nicholas. Hume's Place in Moral Philosophy, New York: Peter Lang, 1989.
From the publisher: Eighteenth century British moral philosophy focused on three issues: (a) moral apprehension; (b) moral motivation; and (c) the relationship of moral apprehension to moral motivation. Hume resolved these issues by a Copernican revolution in… More

David Hume

- Hill, Robert S. “David Hume.” In History of Political Philosophy, edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, 535–558. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
In his chapter on David Hume in History of Political Philosophy, Robert S. Hill examines Hume’s contributions to political thought, emphasizing his skepticism, empiricism, and focus on human nature. Hill highlights Hume’s rejection of rationalist and… More

Philosophy and Ideology in Hume’s Political Thought

- Miller, David. Philosophy and Ideology in Hume's Political Thought, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981.
From the publisher: This book was written with three aims in mind. The first was to provide a reasonably concise account of Hume’s social and political thought that might help students coming to it for the first time. The second aim was to say something… More

The Science of a Legislator: The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith

- Haakonssen, Knud. The Science of a Legislator: The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
From the publisher: Combining the methods of the modern philosopher with those of the historian of ideas, Knud Haakonssen presents an interpretation of the philosophy of law which Adam Smith developed out of – and partly in response to – David… More

Hume

- Stroud, Barry. Hume, London: Routledge, 1977.
An analytic account of Hume’s arguments.

Hume’s Philosophical Politics

- Forbes, Duncan. Hume's Philosophical Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1975.
From the publisher: This is a study of Hume’s political thought based on a survey of all his writings in their original and revised versions, with full reference to the works of predecessors and contemporaries, including journalists, pamphleteers and… More

The Life of David Hume

- Mossner, E.C. The Life of David Hume, London: Nelson, 1954.
From the publisher: Mossner’s Life of David Hume remains the standard biography of this great thinker and writer. First published in 1954, and updated in 1980, this excellent life story is now reissued in paperback, in response to an overwhelming… More

Hume’s Intentions

- Passmore, John. Hume's Intentions, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952.
From the publisher: John Passmore (1914-2004) was a renowned Australian empirical philosopher and historian of ideas. In this book, which was originally published in 1952, Passmore’s intention was to disentangle certain main themes in Hume’s… More

The Philosophy of David Hume

- Smith, Norman Kemp. The Philosophy of David Hume, London: Macmillian, 1941.
From the publisher: Norman Kemp Smith’s The Philosophy of David Hume has long been regarded as a classic study by scholars in the field – a ground-breaking book that has since been unsurpassed in its comprehensive coverage of the ideas and issues… More