•  22
    How Hume Influenced Contemporary Moral Philosophy
    In Andrew Valls & Angela Coventry (eds.), David Hume on Morals, Politics, and Society, Yale University Press. pp. 265-289. 2018.
  •  21
    A Cultivated Reason: An essay on Hume and Humeanism (review)
    Philosophical Review 110 (3): 443-446. 2001.
    The main aim of Christopher Williams’s book is to develop and advocate a Humean account of what it is to be a “reasonable” person. The project is motivated by the fact that Hume depicts reason paradoxically as both a source of skepticism and as a source of belief, as both enslaved to the passions and as important to establishing which passions are morally significant. In his preface, Williams tell us that genre matters to philosophy; how it matters, he says, “is another question”. He sees his pr…Read more
  •  12
    Carol Jean White, 1946-2000
    with Michael J. Meyer
    Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 74 (5). 2001.
  •  12
    Hutcheson's Contributions to Action Theory
    Journal of Scottish Philosophy 20 (2): 103-120. 2022.
    Jonathan Dancy charges that Hutcheson's distinction between justifying reasons and motivating reasons is unimportant: it is simply between moral reasons and other good reasons. I argue that the distinction is between propositions with different presuppositions and different functions. One identifies qualities of objects that we desire; the other identifies qualities that we approve. I situate Hutcheson in the current debate about the nature of practical reasons. I argue that he avoids problems p…Read more
  •  7
    Editors' Introduction
    Hume Studies 47 (1): 7-8. 2022.
    This is our initial issue as co-editors of Hume Studies. We thank our predecessors, Ann Levey, Karl Schafer, and Amy M. Schmitter, for their years of editorial oversight and for their assistance in the transition. Some of the papers they began shepherding through the editorial process will be appearing in our issues.Regular readers of the journal will notice that volume 46 is dated 2020, while this first issue of volume 47 is dated April 2022. The journal has been behind the calendar for many ye…Read more
  •  5
    Hume on the Nature of Morality
    Cambridge University Press. 2022.
    David Hume's moral system involves considerations that seem at odds with one another. He insists on the reality of moral distinctions, while showing that they are founded on the human constitution. He notes the importance to morality of the consequences of actions, while emphasizing that motives are the subjects of moral judgments. He appeals to facts about human psychology as the basis for an argument that morality is founded, not on reason, but on sentiment. Yet, he insists that no “ought” can…Read more
  •  4
    Editors’ Introduction
    Hume Studies 48 (1): 5-6. 2023.
    We are pleased to say that Hume Studies has awarded its second annual Essay Prize, with an announcement featured in this issue. The winning paper will be published in November 2023 (Hume Studies 48:2). We thank the members of the 2022–23 Prize Committee, who are acknowledged in the announcement. Please see the Call for Papers for the Third Annual Essay Prize on page 189 of this issue.Along with five original articles and three book reviews, our current issue features a symposium on Margaret Watk…Read more
  •  3
    Hutcheson and Hume on Moral Perception
    Dissertation, Cornell University. 1985.
    The eighteenth-century philosopher Francis Hutcheson contends that the morality of an agent's action or character depends on the pleasurable or painful feelings which, through the moral sense, it arouses in an observer. His is the first fully-developed "moral sense" theory in the history of ethics, and there is evidence that David Hume's moral epistemology contains the critical features of such a theory as well. Commentators on the work of these two philosophers have offered widely divergent int…Read more
  •  3
    Editors’ Introduction
    Hume Studies 48 (2): 193-193. 2023.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Editors’ IntroductionElizabeth S. Radcliffe and Mark G. SpencerThis issue opens with the winning essay in the Second Annual Hume Studies Essay Prize competition: “Hume’s Passion-Based Account of Moral Responsibility,” by Taro Okamura. Dr. Okamura’s essay was chosen as the 2022 winner from among papers submitted by emerging scholars from August 2021 through July 2022. Dr. Okamura received his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta in 20…Read more
  •  3
    Acali and Acid, Oil and Vinegar: Hume on Contrary Passions
    In Robert Stern & Alix Cohen (eds.), Thinking about the Emotions : A Philosophical History, Oxford University Press. pp. 150-171. 2017.
    In this paper, I present a close study of Hume’s treatment of contrary passions, asking questions about his description of the psychology of emotional difference and opposition. In treating this topic, I examine two opposed, but noteworthy, psychological functions that Hume imputes to human beings: sympathy and comparison. In brief, sympathy is the mechanism by which we share others’ feelings, and comparison is the function of our minds by which we find ourselves feeling passions opposed to othe…Read more
  •  3
    On Hume
    Wadsworth. 2000.
    This brief text assists students in understanding Hume's philosophy and thinking so that they can more fully engage in useful, intelligent class dialogue and improve their understanding of course content. Part of the "Wadsworth Philosophers Series,", ON HUME is written by a philosopher deeply versed in the philosophy of this key thinker. Like other books in the series, this concise book offers sufficient insight into the thinking of a notable philosopher better enabling students to engage in the…Read more
  •  3
    Review of D.D. Raphael, Adam Smith (Oxford University Press, 1985) (review)
    Philosophical Review (4): 612-15. 1987.
  •  2
    Introduction
    In A Companion to Hume, Blackwell. 2008.
    This chapter contains section titled: Hume's Life A Chronology of Hume's Significant Published Writings The Themes and Authors in this Volume Mind and Knowledge Passions and Action Morality and Beauty Religion Economics, Politics, and History Contemporary Themes References Further Reading.
  •  2
    Editors' Introduction
    Hume Studies 47 (2): 169-169. 2022.
    This issue of Hume Studies opens with the winner of the inaugural Hume Studies Essay Prize, Aaron Alexander Zubia’s excellent essay, “Hume’s Transformation of Academic Skepticism.” The Prize was awarded this past year in a competition among contending papers submitted from January 1 through August 1, 2021.The Hume Studies Essay Prize is an annual award in the amount of $1,000 US made possible by the support of the Hume Society. The Essay Prize is an ongoing competition for those who submit paper…Read more
  •  2
    Hume and the Passions as Original Existences
    In Lorenzo Greco & Alessio Vaccari (ed.), Hume Readings, Edizioni Di Storia E Letteratura. 2012.
  •  1
    Francis Hutcheson
    In Steven Nadler (ed.), A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy, Blackwell. 2002.
    This chapter contains section titled: Hutcheson's Life and the Intellectual Climate of his Time Hutcheson's Philosophy Theory of Morality Contemporary Discussions of Hutcheson's Philosophy.
  •  1
    Faith in Theory and Practice: Essays on Justifying Religious Belief (edited book)
    with Carol J. White
    Open Court. 1993.
    Two views of theistic faith are presented in this book. Some contributors see faith as a set of beliefs about God and seek substantiation for those beliefs. Others perceive faith less as a set of beliefs than as a special way of living in relationship to God. The connection between these two views is an intriguing theme winding through the collection and explicitly addressed by Michael A. Brown in the closing essay. The epistemology of religion is now one of the most exciting and controversial a…Read more
  •  1
    The author presents a reading of Hume’s theory of passionate self-moderation and explore its application to the question of whether Hume accords any practicality to reason. One of Hume’s well-known arguments concludes that reason cannot exercise control over the passions, many of which cause or motivate action. So, it looks as though actions are inevitable results of unruly passions. Hume’s theory of action, however, embodies principles by which certain passions can moderate the effects of other…Read more
  • A special issue of Philosophical Studies containing selected papers from the 1999 meeting of the Pacific Division American Philosophical Association (Elizabeth S. Radcliffe, guest editor).
  • Review of DANCY, J.-Practical Reality (review)
    Philosophical Books 43 (4): 312-312. 2002.
  • The Nature of Morals Founded on the Human Fabric
    In Esther Engels Kroeker & Willem Lemmens (eds.), Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals: A Critical Guide, Cambridge University Press. pp. 13-32. 2021.
    In section 1 of An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, Hume claims that those who deny the reality of morals are disingenuous. He also notes that philosophy has had a history of disagreements about whether morals originate in reason or in sentiment. Throughout his book, Hume applies an experimental method to find the “universal principles” from which morality is ultimately derived. Then, in Appendix 1, he then argues for the origin of these principles in sentiment or taste, a product of…Read more