Hume’s Ethics
David Hume (1711-1776)
These lectures are an introduction to the ethics of David Hume. Their aim is to provide an introduction to Hume’s ethical thought and to provide the student with a sufficient background to pursue further study of Hume’s ethics. Their objective is to provide the student with an in depth understanding of Hume’s Book III of A Treatise of Human Nature. The lectures are primarily historical, though connections with contemporary philosophical problems will be touched upon.
Reading
A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume, David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton (eds.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. References to the Treatise are given by a sequence of numbers such as: Treatise 2.3.3.2. This means Treatise Book 2, Part 3, Section 3, Paragraph 2. In general, the first number of the sequence is the book, the second number is the part, the third number is the section, and the fourth number is a paragraph. With this convention in mind, we will be reading the following portions of the Treatise:
- Introduction
- 1.1.1–5
- 2.1.1–5
- 2.1.11
- 2.3.3
- 3.1.1–2
- 3.2.1–3
- 3.3.1–6
I have not recommended any secondary literature. This is intentional. The secondary literature is difficult, and, for now, students should spend their time and energy trying to understand Hume rather than trying to understand Hume commentators.
Lecture Notes
These lecture notes are only intended to provide the student with the “nuts and bolts” of the material presented in lecture and are in no way a substitute for attendance in lecture. Nor are they in any way a substitute for reading the text.
- The Project of Book III of the Treatise
- The Passions
- Reason and the Moral Sense
- Why Justice is not a Natural Virtue
- Justice as an Artificial Virtue
- The Natural Virtues
- Sympathy
- Concluding Remarks
Links
Excited by the Treatise and want to learn more? Here are a few places to start:
