David Hume, History Painter

Abstract

In David Hume's early philosophical works, the Treatise of Human Nature and the Essay Concerning Human Understanding , Hume describes himself as an "anatomist" rather than as a "painter" of morals: that is, he analyzes how morality works rather than warmly recommending virtue to his readers. In his later writings, particularly the History of England , Hume shifts to the role of an earnest moral activist, championing secular and sociable values. Yet there is a crucial continuity between these two roles: the theory of belief that Hume develops as a philosopher, which emphasizes vividness over rational argument, supplies him with the techniques that he uses as a moralist.

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