Book Description

Margaret Schabas is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia.She is the author of two monographs, A World Ruled by Number (Princeton, 1990) and The Natural Origins of Economics (Chicago, 2005).She is also co-editor of Oeconomies in the Age of Newton (2003), and the author of over 30 articles.

Carl Wennerlind is Assistant Professor of History at Barnard College. He is the author of numerous articles on David Humes political economy that have appeared in History of Political Economy, Hume Studies, and Journal of Political Economy. His most recent piece on Hume garnered best article awards from the History of Economics Society and the European Society for the History of Economic Thought.

Book Description
Russell Hardin presents a new explication of David Hume's moral and political theory. With Hume, he holds that our normative views can be scientifically explained but they cannot be justified as true.Hume argued for the psychological basis of such views.In particular, he argued for sympathy as the mirroring of the psychological sensations and emotions of others.By placing Hume in the developing tradition of social science, as a strong forerunner of his younger friend Adam Smith, Hardin demonstrates Hume's strong strategic sense, his nascent utilitarianism, his powerful theory of convention as a main source of social and political order, and his recognition of moral and political theory as a single enterprise. ... Read more

Book Description
These four volumes bring together for the first time some of the most important research on the philosophy of David Hume (1711-1776). Included topics are: Volume 1--Epistemology, Reason, Induction, Scepticism; Volume 2--Space and Time, Ontology, Causality, Personal Identity and the Self, Naturalism, Mental Activity; Volume 3--Ethics, Is/Ought, Reason and the Passions; Volume 4--Religion, Miracles, Politics, Economics, Justice as well as some miscellaneous topics.

The papers have been selected for their clarity, their high quality, their originality and their lasting significance. Each volume includes an extensive selected bibliography listing materials according to the topics covered in the particular volume. ... Read more

Book Description
This is a book about the continuing influence of Hume's ideas on moral and political philosophy.In part, it is a critical exegesis of Hume's most impressive and challenging doctrines in Book III of the Treatise of Human Nature on such topics as morals, motivation, justice, and social institutions.However, the main thrust of the argument is to throw into relief the importance of that discussion for contemporary philosophy.While the author subjects most contemporary defenses of Humean doctrines to intense criticism, he also seeks to discover what versions of Hume's theories might still be defensible and viable. ... Read more

Book Description
Hume's discussion of the idea of space in his Treatise on Human Nature is fundamental to an understanding of his treatment of such central issues as the existence of external objects, the unity of the self, and the relation between certainty and belief. Marina Frasca-Spada's rich and original study examines this difficult part of Hume's philosophical writings and connects it to eighteenth-century works in natural philosophy, mathematics and literature. Her analysis points the way to a reassessment of the central current interpretative questions in Hume studies. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
In this book the author offers a critical analysis of David Hume's argument against miracles from his "Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding," "Of Miracles" is one of the most influential works written in defense of the position that belief in supernatural occurrences is not reasonable. Using Hume's work as a point of departure, the author addresses the two most important epistemological questions asked about miracles: Is it ever reasonable to ascribe a divine source to an anomalous event in order to identify it as miraculous? and What theoretically entails sufficient evidence that a miracle has actually taken place? Contemporary rehabilitations of Hume's argument, as put forth by Antony Flew, Alastair McKinnon, and Patrick Nowell-Smith, are evaluated. Contents: Defining the Miraculous; Hume's Argument, "Part 1;" "Hume's Argument, "Part 2;" "The Rationality of Belief and the Existence of God; Contemporary Rehabilitations of Hume's Argument;" and "Miracles and Evidence." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A nice approach to a badly overrated argument
I'm afraid the previous reviewers have failed to understand what is really a clearly-written book. Beckwith's negative argument against Hume is this: Hume offers an in-fact argument and an in-principle argument against the possibility of miracles. The former claims that there isn't (in fact) enough evidence to support a miracle claim, while the latter goes further: there _couldn't_ ever be sufficient evidence for a miracle. Beckwith rightly points out that the latter version is simply question-begging, but agrees with the spirit of the in-fact objection: one needs significant evidence to take a miracle claim seriously.

Most of the rest of the book takes up this challenge. A miracle claim is much less implausible against a theistic background, so Beckwith first offers a carefully-presented argument for God's existence. Only then does he offer a developed argument for a particular miracle claim, that of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Obviously, as with any topic of interest, much more can be said on the issues Beckwith discusses; indeed, even the arguments he employs have been subject to much debate in the dozen or so years since his book came out. But I fail to see that he has made any straightforward methodological errors, contra cwyoung.

As for Deepak Gupta's terse dismissal, however, one is reminded of the dreary anti-religious chauvinism of an earlier time, highlighted by the false dilemma between philosophy and apologetics. As for the "strong" arguments Beckwith allegedly "evades", it seems that Gupta is confusing this with a textbook. Of course Beckwith should - and _does_ - deal with objections to the positive arguments he does make; to blame him for not responding to every possible objection, germane or not, is not to understand how books are written.

Finally, Gupta's remark that there is "little that would be convincing absent an a priori acceptance of theistic premises" is just a rhetorical trick. As mentioned above, Beckwith devotes significant space to arguing for the existence of God; it is by no means assumed. Gupta may not like the argument, or its conclusion, but the book provides the reader with a substantive defense of theism.

In conclusion: there are other, more recent and/or more thorough works of Christian apologetics, but this is a worthwhile effort and a nice, sympathetic treatment of Hume's argument (and that of some of its successors as well). Not a must-buy, but a good book, well-worth getting for those interested in a theistic response to Hume. (The price is rather steep for its size, though, so get it used.)

A nice approach to a badly overrated argument
I'm afraid the previous reviewers have failed to understand what is really a clearly-written book. Beckwith's negative argument against Hume is this: Hume offers an in-fact argument and an in-principle argument against the possibility of miracles. The former claims that there isn't (in fact) enough evidence to support a miracle claim, while the latter goes further: there _couldn't_ ever be sufficient evidence for a miracle. Beckwith rightly points out that the latter version is simply question-begging, but agrees with the spirit of the in-fact objection: one needs significant evidence to take a miracle claim seriously.

Most of the rest of the book takes up this challenge. A miracle claim is much less implausible against a theistic background, so Beckwith first offers a carefully-presented argument for God's existence. Only then does he offer a developed argument for a particular miracle claim, that of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Obviously, as with any topic of interest, much more can be said on the issues Beckwith discusses; indeed, even the arguments he employs have been subject to much debate in the dozen or so years since his book came out. But I fail to see that he has made any straightforward methodological errors, contra cwyoung.

As for Deepak Gupta's terse dismissal, however, one is reminded of the dreary anti-religious chauvinism of an earlier time, highlighted by the false dilemma between philosophy and apologetics. As for the "strong" arguments Beckwith allegedly "evades", it seems that Gupta is confusing this with a textbook. Of course Beckwith should - and _does_ - deal with objections to the positive arguments he does make; to blame him for not responding to every possible objection, germane or not, is not to understand how books are written.

Finally, Gupta's remark that there is "little that would be convincing absent an a priori acceptance of theistic premises" is just a rhetorical trick. As mentioned above, Beckwith devotes significant space to arguing for the existence of God; it is by no means assumed. Gupta may not like the argument, or its conclusion, but the book provides the reader with a substantive defense of theism.

In conclusion: there are other, more recent and/or more thorough works of Christian apologetics, but this is a worthwhile effort and a nice, sympathetic treatment of Hume's argument (and that of some of its successors as well). Not a must-buy, but a good book, well-worth getting for those interested in a theistic response to Hume. (The price is rather steep for its size, though, so get it used.)

Apologetics disguised as philosophy
This book, a modified version of the author's philosophy doctoral thesis, is actually a text of Christian apologetics.It steadfastly evades strong empirical arguments which would successfully overcome its position andultimately provides little that would be convincing absent an a prioriacceptance of theistic premises.

Francis Beckwith's Argument Against Hume: A Flawed Analysis
It's probably deeply unfair to criticise work that is over a decade old. However, Beckwith's profile on other issues requires some critical comment. If I understand the core argument of this doctoral thesis correctly,Beckwith argues that as there is no absolute certainty that there may havebeen some violation of scientific laws, then David Hume's objection tomiracles as events thattransgress an otherwise orderly universe is not avalid one. However, I would make a Lockean objection to this- Beckwith mustconverselyassert that there is independent verification ofthis claimthat there were singular historical events that transgressed scientificlaws, but he fails to do so. Moreover, why not submit any evidence aboutmiracles to professional standards of analysis? I would also note that hissection on evidence carefully avoids any discussion about theinterpretation of forensic evidence. Sorry, but [in my opinion] Beckwith has notestablished the case for belief in miracles outside an a priori acceptanceof claims that the Bible is a wholly authenticdocument. I do not denythat there was an historical entity named Jesus, but in the absence of anyindependent empirical verification thatmiracles and faith claims aretrue, why should I accept the absence of empirical evidence that is basedon professional verification as satisfactory? ...
... Read more

Book Description
A Humean Critique of David Hume's Theory of Knowledge provides the first full-length Aristotilian-Thomistic critique of Hume's most mature and familiar work. While giving Hume proper respect and appreciation for his achievement, Jeremy White engages in a thoughtful critique through an approach based in Hume's own method. He successfully uncovers Hume's unconscious indebtedness to his seventeenth century predecessors, including Locke and Bacon, whom he persistently discredited. White's discovery of Hume's assumptions and premises for building his philosophy provide much enlightenment regarding his ideas. The author's intimacy with the processes of Hume's mind and from where he drew his conclusions translates into a tremendous ease and comfort in gaining an understanding of Hume's epistemology and his underlying metaphysical assumptions. ... Read more