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Eseuri politice
Celebru in vremea noastra ca autor al Tratatului asupra naturii umane, unde a propus o influenta formulare a scepticismului, David Hume (1711-1776), cel mai de seama reprezentant al Iluminismului scotian, a fost mai cunoscut in epoca pentru scrierile sale politice si istorice. Volumul de fata reuneste principalele eseuri care, impreuna, alcatuiesc prima expunere sistematica a filozofiei politice a conservatorismului modern.
„Cu formele de guvernare nu putem face aceleasi lucruri precum cu celelalte inventii artificiale, acolo unde se poate renunta la o componenta veche daca descoperim alta mult mai precisa si mai utila sau unde ne permitem sa facem mai multe incercari chiar daca succesul lor ne apare ca fiind indoielnic.“
David Hume
„Cu formele de guvernare nu putem face aceleasi lucruri precum cu celelalte inventii artificiale, acolo unde se poate renunta la o componenta veche daca descoperim alta mult mai precisa si mai utila sau unde ne permitem sa facem mai multe incercari chiar daca succesul lor ne apare ca fiind indoielnic.“
David Hume
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1752
About the author
David Hume
3,197 books1,786 followersDavid Hume was a Scottish historian, philosopher, economist, diplomat and essayist known today especially for his radical philosophical empiricism and scepticism.
In light of Hume's central role in the Scottish Enlightenment, and in the history of Western philosophy, Bryan Magee judged him as a philosopher "widely regarded as the greatest who has ever written in the English language." While Hume failed in his attempts to start a university career, he took part in various diplomatic and military missions of the time. He wrote The History of England which became a bestseller, and it became the standard history of England in its day.
His empirical approach places him with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others at the time as a British Empiricist.
Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic "science of man" that examined the psychological basis of human nature. In opposition to the rationalists who preceded him, most notably René Descartes, he concluded that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour. He also argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience. He argued that inductive reasoning and therefore causality cannot be justified rationally. Our assumptions in favour of these result from custom and constant conjunction rather than logic. He concluded that humans have no actual conception of the self, only of a bundle of sensations associated with the self.
Hume's compatibilist theory of free will proved extremely influential on subsequent moral philosophy. He was also a sentimentalist who held that ethics are based on feelings rather than abstract moral principles, and expounded the is–ought problem.
Hume has proved extremely influential on subsequent western philosophy, especially on utilitarianism, logical positivism, William James, the philosophy of science, early analytic philosophy, cognitive philosophy, theology and other movements and thinkers. In addition, according to philosopher Jerry Fodor, Hume's Treatise is "the founding document of cognitive science". Hume engaged with contemporary intellectual luminaries such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, James Boswell, and Adam Smith (who acknowledged Hume's influence on his economics and political philosophy). Immanuel Kant credited Hume with awakening him from "dogmatic slumbers".
In light of Hume's central role in the Scottish Enlightenment, and in the history of Western philosophy, Bryan Magee judged him as a philosopher "widely regarded as the greatest who has ever written in the English language." While Hume failed in his attempts to start a university career, he took part in various diplomatic and military missions of the time. He wrote The History of England which became a bestseller, and it became the standard history of England in its day.
His empirical approach places him with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others at the time as a British Empiricist.
Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic "science of man" that examined the psychological basis of human nature. In opposition to the rationalists who preceded him, most notably René Descartes, he concluded that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour. He also argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience. He argued that inductive reasoning and therefore causality cannot be justified rationally. Our assumptions in favour of these result from custom and constant conjunction rather than logic. He concluded that humans have no actual conception of the self, only of a bundle of sensations associated with the self.
Hume's compatibilist theory of free will proved extremely influential on subsequent moral philosophy. He was also a sentimentalist who held that ethics are based on feelings rather than abstract moral principles, and expounded the is–ought problem.
Hume has proved extremely influential on subsequent western philosophy, especially on utilitarianism, logical positivism, William James, the philosophy of science, early analytic philosophy, cognitive philosophy, theology and other movements and thinkers. In addition, according to philosopher Jerry Fodor, Hume's Treatise is "the founding document of cognitive science". Hume engaged with contemporary intellectual luminaries such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, James Boswell, and Adam Smith (who acknowledged Hume's influence on his economics and political philosophy). Immanuel Kant credited Hume with awakening him from "dogmatic slumbers".
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 17, 2025
Good notes, like the appendix with bits of Hist of England in it too.
July 2, 2026
Un livre qui a mal vieilli. Certaines idées comme celles sur le luxe et l’égalité sont encore intéressantes, mais la plupart semble propre à son époque. Ceux qui touchent la monnaie, l’intérêt, la dette publique et les impôts sont particulièrement mis hors jeu par les études plus récentes comme la MMT. Sa défense de l’aristocratie est aussi difficile à apprécier près de 300 ans plus tard. Il demeure tout de même intéressant de voir comment la pensée de Hume se plaçait dans sa génération des lumières.
May 29, 2025
Not as Humey as the Treatise imho
June 7, 2009
The political essays of Hume, like those of Locke, give some idea of the mental horizon of the constitutional theorists who shaped the American government.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews