Religion and Faction in Hume's Moral Philosophy

An examination of David Hume's work, revising our understanding of the period in which he lived and wrote.

Jennifer A. Herdt (Author)

9780521073080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 September 2008

320 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

"Beyond its value as a study of complex and interrelated themes in Hume's writings, Herdt's book has relevance to conteomporary events. Herdt's book is an excellent introduction to a thinker whose understanding of religion and its role in public life continues to merit careful study." The Journal of Religion

This book explores Hume's concern with the destructiveness of religious factions and his efforts to develop, in his moral philosophy, a solution to factional conflict. Sympathy and the related capacity to enter into foreign points of view are crucial to the neutralization of religious zeal and the naturalization of ethics. Jennifer Herdt suggests that Hume's preoccupation with religious faction is the key which reveals the unity of his varied philosophical, aesthetic, political and historical works.

Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
1. Setting sympathy's stage
2. Displacing providence
3. 'Poetical systems' and the pleasures of tragedy
4. Sympathetic understanding and the threat of difference
5. Religion and irrationality in history
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB]