Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF Ed.) [1777]
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The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) [1777] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) Edition Used: Essays Moral, Political, Literary, edited and with a Foreword, Notes, and Glossary by Eugene F. Miller, with an appendix of variant readings from the 1889 edition by T.H. Green and T.H. Grose, revised edition (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund 1987). Author: David Hume Editor: Eugene F. Miller About This Title: “We have Hume’s own word that the definitive statement of his philosophy is not to be found in the youthful Treatise of Human Nature but in the 1777 posthumous edition of his collected works entitled Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. Yet a major part of this definitive collection, the Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (a volume of near 600 pages, covering three decades of Hume’s career as a philosopher) has been largely ignored. The volume has rarely been in print, and the last critical edition was published in 1874-75. With this splendid, but inexpensive, new critical edition by Eugene Miller, the door is open to a richer notion of Hume’s conception of philosophy.” (Donald Livingston, Emory University). This edition contains the thirty- nine essays included in Essays, Moral, and Literary, that made up Volume I of the 1777 posthumous Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. It also includes ten PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/704 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) essays that were withdrawn or left unpublished by Hume for various reasons. The two most important were deemed too controversial for the religious climate of his time. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/704 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/704 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) Table Of Contents Foreword Editor’s Note Note to the Revised Edition The Life of David Hume, Esq.: My Own Life Letter From Adam Smith, Ll.d. to William Strahan, Esq. Part I: Essays Moral, Political, and Literary Essay I: Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion Essay II: Of the Liberty of the Press Essay III: That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science Essay IV: Of the First Principles of Government Essay V: Of the Origin of Government Essay VI: Of the Independency of Parliament Essay VII: Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy, Or to a Republic Essay VIII: Of Parties In General Essay IX: Of the Parties of Great Britain Essay X: Of Superstition and Enthusiasm Essay XI: Of the Dignity Or Meanness of Human Nature Essay XII: Of Civil Liberty Essay XIII: Of Eloquence Essay XIV: Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences Essay XV: The Epicurean Essay XVI: The Stoic Essay XVII: The Platonist Essay XVIII: The Sceptic Essay XIX: Of Polygamy and Divorces Essay XX: Of Simplicity and Refinement In Writing Essay XXI: Of National Characters Essay XXII: Of Tragedy Essay XXIII: Of the Standard of Taste Part II: Essays Moral, Political, and Literary Essay I: Of Commerce Essay II: Of Refinement In the Arts Essay III: Of Money Essay IV: Of Interest Essay V: Of the Balance of Trade Essay VI: Of the Jealousy of Trade Essay VII: Of the Balance of Power Essay VIII: Of Taxes Essay IX: Of Public Credit Essay X: Of Some Remarkable Customs Essay XI: Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations Essay XII: Of the Original Contract Essay XIII: Of Passive Obedience PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/704 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) Essay XIV: Of the Coalition of Parties Essay XV: Of the Protestant Succession Essay XVI: Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth Essays Withdrawn and Unpublished Essay I: Of Essay-writing Essay II: Of Moral Prejudices Essay III: Of the Middle Station of Life Essay IV: Of Impudence and Modesty Essay V: Of Love and Marriage Essay VI: Of the Study of History Essay VII: Of Avarice Essay VIII: A Character of Sir Robert Walpole Essay IX: Of Suicide Essay X: Of the Immortality of the Soul Variant Readings Variant Readings to Part I Variant Readings to Part Ii Variant Readings to Essays Withdrawn and Unpublished Glossary PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/704 Online Library of Liberty: Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) [Back to Table of Contents] FOREWORD David Hume’s greatness was recognized in his own time, as it is today, but the writings that made Hume famous are not, by and large, the same ones that support his reputation now. Leaving aside his Enquiries,1 which were widely read then as now, Hume is known today chiefly through his Treatise of Human Nature2 and his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.3 The Treatise was scarcely read at all during Hume’s lifetime, however, and the Dialogues was not published until after his death. Conversely, most readers today pay little attention to Hume’s various books of essays and to his History of England,4 but these are the works that were read avidly by his contemporaries. If one is to get a balanced view of Hume’s thought, it is necessary to study both groups of writings. If we should neglect the essays or the History, then our view of Hume’s aims and achievements is likely to be as incomplete as that of his contemporaries who failed to read the Treatise or the Dialogues. The preparation and revision of his essays occupied Hume throughout his adult life. In his late twenties, after completing three books of the Treatise, Hume began to publish essays on moral and political themes. His Essays, Moral and Political was brought out late in 1741 by Alexander Kincaid, Edinburgh’s leading publisher.5 A second volume of essays appeared under the same title early in 1742,6 and later that year, a “Second Edition, Corrected” of the first volume was issued. In 1748, three additional essays appeared in a small volume published in Edinburgh and London.7 That volume is noteworthy as the first of Hume’s works to bear his name and also as the beginning of his association with Andrew Millar as his chief London publisher. These three essays were incorporated into the “Third Edition, Corrected” of Essays, Moral and Political, which Millar and Kincaid published in the same year. In 1752, Hume issued a large number of new essays under the title Political Discourses, a work so successful that a second edition was published before the year was out, and a third in 1754.8 Early in the 1750s, Hume drew together his various essays, along with other of his writings, in a collection entitled Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. Volume 1 (1753) of this collection contains the Essays, Moral and Political and Volume 4 (1753–54) contains the Political Discourses. The two Enquiries are reprinted in Volumes 2 and 3. Hume retained the title Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects for subsequent editions of his collected works, but he varied the format and contents somewhat. A new, one-volume edition appeared under this title in 1758, and other four-volume editions in 1760 and 1770. Two-volume editions appeared in 1764, 1767, 1768, 1772, and 1777. The 1758 edition, for the first time, grouped the essays under the heading “Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary” and divided them into Parts I and II.