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A review by carise
A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning Into Mor by David Hume
4.0
“‘Tis obvious… that men of gay tempers naturally love the gay” (403) [accidental allyship for the win].
This treatise is thick but quite insightful at several turns. Hume’s discussion on “the understanding” or how we come to knowledge, I largely agree with. He focusses a significant portion on the principles of cause and effect, which is phenomenal. However, Books 2 and 3 on the passions and morals betray the norms of Hume’s time. His claims range from objectionable to absurd, and most of these relate to wealth and government, such as: “Nothing has a greater tendency to give us an esteem for any person, than his power and riches; or a contempt, than his poverty and meanness” (406). Of course, this perspective comes before most formal communist thought took root in Europe. Our bourgeois philosopher isn’t wrong about the purpose of the state though: “To remedy disputes over property between proprietors” (590). Hume believes this to be a noble purpose for the state, but what it actually amounts to is that the state exists to serve the wealthiest, who are proprietors. In cases like this, Hume’s observations are technically correct but they lack a critical understanding. Nonetheless, this work really earns its rank in classic philosophy.
This treatise is thick but quite insightful at several turns. Hume’s discussion on “the understanding” or how we come to knowledge, I largely agree with. He focusses a significant portion on the principles of cause and effect, which is phenomenal. However, Books 2 and 3 on the passions and morals betray the norms of Hume’s time. His claims range from objectionable to absurd, and most of these relate to wealth and government, such as: “Nothing has a greater tendency to give us an esteem for any person, than his power and riches; or a contempt, than his poverty and meanness” (406). Of course, this perspective comes before most formal communist thought took root in Europe. Our bourgeois philosopher isn’t wrong about the purpose of the state though: “To remedy disputes over property between proprietors” (590). Hume believes this to be a noble purpose for the state, but what it actually amounts to is that the state exists to serve the wealthiest, who are proprietors. In cases like this, Hume’s observations are technically correct but they lack a critical understanding. Nonetheless, this work really earns its rank in classic philosophy.