A Dissertation on the Passions

A Dissertation on the Passions
Author: David Hume
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 455
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199251886

Tom Beauchamp presents the definitive scholarly edition of two famous works by David Hume, both originally published in 1757. In A Dissertation on the Passions Hume sets out his original view of the nature and central role of passion and emotion. The Natural History of Religion is a landmark work in the study of religion as a natural phenomenon.

Four Dissertations

Four Dissertations
Author: David Hume
Publisher: Burns & Oates
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2000
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

In 1756 a volume of Hume's essays entitled Five Dissertations was printed and ready for distribution. The essays included "The Natural History of Religion", "Of the Passions", "Of Tragedy", "Of Suicide", and "Of the Immortality of the Soul". The latter two essays made direct attacks on common religious doctrines by defending a person's moral right to commit suicide and by criticizing the idea of life after death. Early copies were passed around, and someone of influence threatened to prosecute Hume's publisher if the book was distributed as is. The printed copies of Five Dissertations were then physically altered, with a new essay "Of the Standard of Taste" inserted in place of the two removed essays. Hume also took this opportunity to alter two particularly offending paragraphs in the Natural History. The essays were then bound with the new title Four Dissertations and distributed in January, 1757. The essays in Four stand together as a unified whole, showcasing his psychology of the passions and demonstrating its application to both religion and aesthetics. This edition also includes Hume's extended Dedication, a passionate endorsement of intellectual and artistic freedom, which has been out of print since the original publication in 1757. The essays on suicide and the immortality of the soul, long separated from the other essays, are here finally put back, as intended by Hume. "On the Immortality of the Soul" briskly dismisses metaphysical, moral, and physical arguments, and refers us instead to a revelation that Hume himself clearly did not believe in. "On Suicide" vigorously rebuts the theologians' claim that self-destruction is a crime, arguing instead that under certaincircumstances, suicide might be not permissible but morally required. Included are "Two Letters on Suicide" from Rousseau's Eloisa.

Essays

Essays
Author: DAVID HUME
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2024-01-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9361157671

The 18th-century collection of philosophical articles "Essays" was penned by Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume. The essays' broad range of subjects reflects Hume's varied interests in politics, literature, and philosophy. "A Treatise of Human Nature," one of Hume's most important essays, examines human thinking and makes the case for a more sceptical and empirical philosophy. He promotes a study of human nature based on observation and experience, challenging conventional beliefs about causality, identity, and the nature of knowledge. Hume's writing is distinguished by its empiricism, wit, and clarity. His writings, which provide insights into human nature, the basis of knowledge, and the difficulties of moral and aesthetic judgments, continue to have an impact on the domains of philosophy and economics. The compilation offers a thorough understanding of Hume's contributions to philosophy and is still studied because of its significant influence on Western thought.

David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature

David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature
Author: David Fate Norton
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2007-04-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191569089

David and Mary Norton present the definitive scholarly edition of one of the greatest philosophical works ever written. This first volume contains the critical text of David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature (1739/40), followed by the short Abstract (1740) in which Hume set out the key arguments of the larger work; the volume concludes with A Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend in Edinburgh (1745), Hume's defence of the Treatise when it was under attack from ministers seeking to prevent Hume's appointment as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy

A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy
Author: Graham Oppy
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 600
Release: 2019-05-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1119119111

PROSE 2020 Single Volume Reference Finalist! Philosophers throughout history have debated the existence of gods, but it is only in recent years that the absence of such a belief has become a significant topic of philosophical analysis, in particular for philosophers of religion. Although it is difficult to trace the historical contours of atheism as the lack of belief in a higher power, the reasoned, reflective, and thoughtful rejection of theism has become commonplace in many modern intellectual circles, including academic philosophy where disciplinary data indicates that a large majority of philosophers self-identify as atheists. As the first book of its kind to bring together a collection of writing on the philosophical aspects of atheism both historical and contemporary, the Companion to Atheism and Philosophy stages an explicit, constructive, and comprehensive conversation between philosophy and atheism to examine the ways in which atheist thought intersects with ideas and positions from a variety of philosophical and theological sub-disciplines. The Companion begins by addressing the foundational questions and lingering controversies which underpin philosophical thought about atheism, exploring the implications of major developments in the history of philosophy for the modern atheistic worldview. Divided into eight distinct sections, essays consider a range of thinkers who were widely believed to have been atheists—including David Hume, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton—and survey different kinds of objections to theism and atheism, including logical, evidential, normative, and prudential. Later chapters trace the relationship between atheism and metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy oriented around topics such as pragmatism, postmodernism, freedom, education, violence, and happiness. Deftly curated and thoughtfully composed, A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy is the most ambitious and authoritative account of philosophical thinking on atheism available, and is a first-rate resource for academics, professionals, and students of philosophy, religious studies, and theology.

The Oxford Handbook of Hume

The Oxford Handbook of Hume
Author: Paul Russell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 833
Release: 2016
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199742847

The Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) is widely regarded as the greatest and most significant English-speaking philosopher and often seen as having had the most influence on the way philosophy is practiced today in the West. His reputation is based not only on the quality of his philosophical thought but also on the breadth and scope of his writings, which ranged over metaphysics, epistemology, morals, politics, religion, and aesthetics. The Handbook's 38 newly commissioned chapters are divided into six parts: Central Themes; Metaphysics and Epistemology; Passion, Morality and Politics; Aesthetics, History, and Economics; Religion; Hume and the Enlightenment; and After Hume. The volume also features an introduction from editor Paul Russell and a chapter on Hume's biography.