Reading Hume on the Principles of Morals

Hume's Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals (1751) is a landmark work in the history of moral philosophy. This volume presents new interpretative essays which offer a section-by-section study of the Enquiry, and of its relation to Hume's other writings on ethics, epistemology, religion, aesthetics, and emotion.

Hume''s Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals is one of the landmark works in the history of moral philosophy; this volume presents a section-by-section study of the work in the form of new interpretative essays by leading Hume scholars. The result is a comprehensive reassessment of Hume''s ''recasting'' of his moral philosophy in this work. Particular attention is given to the Enlightenment concepts of justice and benevolence, as well as to the concepts of humanity and moral sentiment. Fifteen original chapters take the reader through the nine sections and four appendices of Hume''s Enquiry, as well as ''A Dialogue,'' to assess critically the moral philosophy he presents. How does it differ from the moral philosophy of the Treatise, and how should we understand the significance of the arguments he advances? Additional chapters examine the relation between Hume''s mature moral philosophy and related subjects such as his epistemology, his writings on religion, beauty and criticism, the passions, and his own intellectual and philosophical development during the period in which he conceived and wrote the Enquiry.