Download This PaperHistory in Hume's Essays
This is a pre-print of an unpublished book chapter. The research for this chapter was funded by Fapemig, the State of Minas Gerais’ Research Foundation under grant BPD-00638-22
22 Pages Posted: 27 Feb 2025
Date Written: October 18, 2023
Abstract
Even though David Hume's Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (published between 1741 and 1776) were not a work of history, Hume developed his historical thought in the first published volumes (1741-1752). This chapter explains how Hume developed the method and the "structure" underlying his historical thought while writing the Essays. Hume's historical method is connected to the concept of "general causes", that is, moral (or psychological) causes that affect the masses of people in society. The Essays assess historical evidences through the lenses of general causes. The Essays also develop the underlying structure of Hume's later historical work, the History of England: the essays establish a set of concepts (such as rude and civilized), periodizations (ancient and modern) and key themes (trade, the arts ans sciences, demography) that defined the scope of Hume's historical enquiries.
Keywords: David Hume, History of historiography, Historical Thought, Philosophical history, Historical Evidence, Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns
JEL Classification: B12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation