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This paper reveals connections between Hume's virtue ethics and his political philosophy by investigating two specific ques tions. First, is allegiance to government, as Hume understands it, a virtue of character like other virtues that Hume recognizes (such as justice and fidelity to promises)? Second, can Hume ac
A permanent online resource for Hume scholars and students, including reliable texts of almost everything written by David Hume, and links to secondary material on the web.
Hume sees all governments as the result of a struggle between authority and liberty, with the best of them achieving a balance between the two by implementing systems of “general laws.” Hume’s cautious approach to social change may fairly be called conservative.
The government, which, in common appellation, receives the appellation of free, is that which admits of a partition of power among several members, whose united authority is no less, or is commonly greater than that of any monarch; but who, in the usual course of administration, must act by general and equal laws, that are previously known to ...
When this opinion prevails among the generality of a state, or among those who have the force in their hands, it gives great security to any government. Right is of two kinds, right to power and right to property .
If Edmund Burke pondered over one of the key questions of political theory, “who guards us from the guardians?”, David Hume was pondering an equally difficult problem: “why is it so easy for the few in power to govern the many?” His answer was that “opinion”, or the beliefs the many hold about the legitimacy of those who rule, keeps ...
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Aug 23, 2022 · Generally speaking, Hume’s answers to these questions emphasized an empirically grounded account of human nature for understanding politics; the significance of historical and political contexts; the roles of opinion, habits, and conventions in political life; political moderation; and the limits of reason and the role of the passions in ...
