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Syllabus for NEH Institute David Hume in the 21St Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment July 11 – August 5, 2022

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Syllabus for NEH Institute David Hume in the 21St Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment July 11 – August 5, 2022 Syllabus for NEH Institute David Hume in the 21st Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment July 11 – August 5, 2022 Schedule of Topics, Speakers, and Readings (subject to change) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abbreviated references to Hume’s writings: Treatise = A Treatise of Human Nature (followed by Book, Part, section #) EPM = Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (followed by Part, section #) EHU = Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (followed by Part, section #) Essays = Essays: Moral, Political, Literary History = History of England DCNR = Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Access to most readings will be provided electronically. Editions of Hume’s works are readily available, including online. For instance, the website davidhume.org has acceptable editions of all of Hume’s works. (The Oxford Critical Editions of the Treatise, EPM, EHU, and DCNR are now generally considered the standard editions.) Formal sessions each day will begin at 9 am and end at noon, with a brief break. We will have opportunities for small group meetings in the afternoons to discuss pedagogy or to meet with guest faculty on topics of special interest. Afternoon participation is optional. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat-Sun July 9-10 Check in on campus – Information to come July 10 Welcoming social – Information to come _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 1 Hume’s Naturalism and Skepticism / Hume on the Mind Mon-Tues July 11-12 Introduction and welcome (Co-directors Angela Coventry and Elizabeth Radcliffe) Naturalism and Skepticism (Don Garrett, NYU) Evidence and the Correction of Skeptical Doubts: Hume writes in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding that the “undistinguished doubts" of 2 "excessive skepticism ... are, in some measure, corrected by common sense and reflection.” How, within Hume's epistemology of evidence, does this correction occur? How does it allow Hume to combine mitigated skepticism with naturalism? Readings: 1. Hume, EHU: Sections 4-6, and 12 2. Hume, Treatise: 1.1.3.1-2, 1.3.7.3, 1.3.8.11-12, 1.3.10.11-12, 1.3.13.1-3, 1.3.13.9, 1.4.2.41, 1.4.5.30, 1.4.7.7, 3.3.1.14-18 3. Reid, Thomas. Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man: Essay II, Chapter 20 Supplemental Readings: 1. Hume, EHU: Section 10 2. Hume, DCNR: Part 1 3. Garrett, Don. Hume (Routledge 2015): Chapters 4-5 Weds-Thurs July 13-14 Naturalism and Skepticism (Paul Russell, UBC and Lund) Hume’s irreligious views in the context of his naturalism and his skepticism Readings: 1. Hume's Treatise / Hobbes's Leviathan 2. Paul Russell, Riddle of Hume's Treatise (2008), esp. Chs. 1-6, 17-20. 3. Paul Russell, "Hume's Philosophy of Irreligion and the Myth of British Empiricism", in P. Russell, ed. Oxford Handbook of David Hume (2016). 4. Paul Russell (and Anders Kraal), “Hume on Religion,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-religion/ Fri July 15 Hume on Space, Time and Passions (Angela Coventry, Portland State) Hume’s treatment of space and time is examined, particularly in relation to the passions. Readings: Hume, Treatise 1.1-2 and 2.3.7-8 Supplemental Readings: 1. Lorne Falkenstein, “Hume on Manners of Disposition and the Ideas of Space and Time.” Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 79 (2). 1997: 179-201. 2. Marina Frasca-Spada, Space and the Self in Hume's Treatise, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, especially Chapters 1-2 3 3. Donald Baxter, “Hume on Space and Time,” In Paul Russell (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of David Hume, Oxford: Oxford University Press USA, 2014. 4. Don Garrett, Hume, Routledge, 2015, chapter 2 5. Jonathan Cottrell, “Hume on Space and Time: A Limited Defense,” in Angela M. Coventry and Alexander Sager (eds), The Humean Mind, New York: Routledge, 2019 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 2 Moral Psychology / Morality and Society / Economics Mon July 18 Hume’s Moral Psychology (Elizabeth Radcliffe, William & Mary) Hume’s theory of the passions and reason as background to his moral theory: How does Hume’s theory differ from other early modern theories of the passions? What are the respective roles of passion and reason in producing action? Does Hume think there is any way of moderating the passions, given that he argues that reason cannot do it? Finally, what is the role of passion in moral judgment and in moral agency? Readings: 1. Hume, T 2.3, 3.1 2. Hume, EPM Part 1, Appendix 1 Supplemental Readings: 1. Rachel Cohon, Hume’s Morality (Oxford University Press 2008), Chaps. 3-4. 2. P.J.E. Kail, Projection and Realism in Hume’s Philosophy (OUP 2007), Chap 8. 3. Elizabeth Radcliffe, Hume, Passion, and Action (OUP, 2018), Introduction, Chaps. 2 & 6. Tues July 19 Hume on Morality (Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, UNC Chapel Hill) Hume and taking up “the general point of view” in moral judgment; how this point of view connects with the natural virtues, such as gratitude and benevolence. Readings: 1. Hume, Treatise 3.1.1-2, 3.3.1, 3.3.3-5 2. Sayre-McCord, “On Why Hume’s ‘General Point of View’ Isn’t Ideal -- and Shouldn’t Be,” in Social Philosophy & Policy, volume 11, number 1 (Winter 1994), pp. 202-228. 3. Sayre-McCord, “Hume and Smith on Sympathy, Approbation, and Moral Judgment,” in Social Philosophy and Policy, 2013, vol. 30, #1-2, pp. 208-236. 4 Weds July 20 Hume on Society (Geoffrey Sayre-McCord) The general point of view and artificial virtues such as honesty and justice. Readings: 1. Hume, Treatise 3.2.1-6 2. Sayre-McCord, "Hume and the Bauhaus Theory of Ethics,” Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Vol. XX (University of Notre Dame Press, 1996), pp. 280-298. 3. Sayre-McCord, “Hume on the Artificial Virtues,” in the Oxford Handbook of David Hume, edited by Paul Russell (Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 435- 469. Thurs-Fri July 21-22 Hume’s Economics (Margaret Schabas, University of British Columbia) A study of Hume’s key texts on economic theory, including his essays on money, the interest rate, and trade; Hume’s efforts to forge policies on public finance; Hume’s vision for economic prosperity, both national and global. Readings: 1. From the Liberty On-line text of Hume’s Essays (pp. 253-365): “Of Commerce,” Of Refinement in the Arts,” “Of Money,” “Of Interest,” “Of the Balance of Trade,” “Of the Jealousy of Trade,” “Of Taxes,” and “Of Public Credit.” 2. Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind, “Hume on Money, Commerce, and the Science of Economics,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 25.3 (Summer 2011): 217-30. Supplemental Readings: 1. Margaret Schabas, “’Let Your Science Be Human’: David Hume and the Honourable Merchant,” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 21.6 (December 2014): 977 - 990. 2. Margaret Schabas, “Hume on Economic Well-Being”. Continuum Companion to David Hume. Eds. Alan Bailey and Dan O’Brien. Continuum Press, 2012. Reprinted in paperback as The Bloomsbury Companion to Hume. Bloomsbury, 2015. 332-48. 3. Carl Wennerlind, “David Hume’s Political Philosophy: A Theory of Commercial Modernization,” Hume Studies 28.2 (2002): 247-70. 4. Carl Wennerlind, “David Hume’s Monetary Theory Revisited: Was He Really a Quantity Theorist and an Inflationist?” Journal of Political Economy. February 2005. Vol. 113. No. 1: 223-37. 5 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 3 Hume the Historian / Non-Western Philosophy / Race Mon July 25 David Hume, the Historian (Mark Spencer, Brock) An introduction to Hume’s monumental work, A History of England. Readings: 1. Selections from Hume’s History of England, ed. by William Todd (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1983): • Vol. V, Section on “The king’s [Charles I] trial – And execution – And character,” pp. 535-48. • Vol. V, “Appendix to the Reign of James I,” pp. 124-55. • Vol. VI, Section on “Manners, arts and science,” pp. 530-45. • Vol. IV, “Appendix III [to the Reign of Elizabeth],” pp. 354-86. 2. Mark G. Spencer, “Hume the Historian,” in Angela M. Coventry and Alexander Sager, eds, The Humean Mind (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 287-99. Supplemental Reading: Mark G. Spencer, “Was David Hume, the Historian, a Plagiarist? A Submission from His History of England,” CLIO: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History, Vol. 47, Issue 1 (2019), pp. 25-50. Tues July 26 David Hume, the Historian, cont. (Mark Spencer) Readings: 1. Selections from Hume’s History of England, ed. by William Todd (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1983): • Vol. I, “Appendix I: The Anglo-Saxon Government and Manners,” pp. 160-85. • Vol. I, “Appendix II: The Feudal and Anglo-Norman Government and Manners,” pp. 455-88. • Vol. II, Last paragraphs that Hume writes for his History, pp. 518-25. 2. E. C. Mossner, “Hume as Literary Patron: A Suppressed Review of Robert Henry’s ‘History of Great Britain,’ 1773,” Modern Philology, Vol. 39, No. 4 (1942), pp. 361-82. 3. F. L. van Holthoon, “Hume and the End of History,” in Mark G. Spencer, ed. David Hume: Historical Thinker, Historical Writer (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2013), pp. 143-62. 6 Supplemental Reading: Roger L. Emerson and Mark G. Spencer, “A Bibliography for Hume’s History of England: A Preliminary View,” Hume Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Apr. 2014), 53-71. Weds-Thurs July 27-28 Hume and Non-Western Philosophy (Jay Garfield, Smith and Harvard) Homologies between Hume’s Indian Mādhyamikas’ treatment of custom, the self, and ethical cultivation. Readings: 1. Selections from Garfield, The Concealed Influence of Custom: Hume's Treatise from the Inside Out. 2. Garfield, “Hume as a Western Mādhyamika,” in G Davis, ed., Ethics Without Self; Dharma Without Atman: Western and Buddhist Philosophical Traditions in Dialogue. London: Routledge. (2018), pp. 131-144.
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