Hume and the Demands of Philosophy: Science, Skepticism, and Moderation

203 Pages·2022·2.557 MB·English

by  Nathan I. Sasser

Hume and the
Demands of Philosophy

Hume and the
Demands of Philosophy
Science, Skepticism,
and Moderation
Nathan I. Sasser
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sasser, Nathan I., author.
Title: Hume and the demands of philosophy : science, skepticism, and
moderation / Nathan I. Sasser.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, 2022. | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “This book argues that Hume is a
radical epistemic skeptic who gives only practical reasons for retaining
belief in sensory beliefs and the deliverances of reason. He advises us
to take a moderate approach to the demands of philosophy, since they
sometimes diverge from the demands of life”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021053143 (print) | LCCN 2021053144 (ebook) | ISBN
9781793623218 (cloth) | ISBN 9781793623225 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Hume, David, 1711-1776.
Classification: LCC B1498 .S27 2022 (print) | LCC B1498 (ebook) | DDC
192—dc23/eng/20211108
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053143
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053144
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction: The Problem of Hume’s Skepticism 1
1 An Overview of Book 1 of the Treatise 23
2 Philosophy and Justification in the Treatise 53
3 Reason and Skepticism in the Treatise 69
4 The Senses and Skepticism in the Treatise 87
5 Hume’s Purely Practical Response to Skepticism in the Treatise 103
6 Philosophy and Justification in the Enquiry 127
7 Hume’s Purely Practical Response to Skepticism in the Enquiry 147
8 Skepticism, Irreligion, and Moderation 169
Bibliography 179
Index 185
About the Author 191
v

Acknowledgments
It is a great pleasure to thank the many people who have contributed in vari-
ous ways to the emergence of this book. My mother and father introduced
me to the life of the mind and remain some of my favorite and most regular
interlocutors. John Carroll, my undergraduate philosophy professor and advi-
sor at North Carolina State University, provided a formative example of rig-
orous analytic philosophy, as well as personal encouragement. Jared Oliphint
has been a philosophical fellow traveler for almost twenty years; I’m glad
we’re both still on the road. Whatever I know about writing in the history of
philosophy is due to Matt Kisner. Hours of conversation with him helped me
clarify my early thoughts about Hume.
I’ve been honored to have some of the Hume scholars I most respect
critique earlier drafts of this material. Don Garrett has been exceptionally
generous in reading and responding to earlier versions of much of this book.
I have learned so much from him (though not as much as I should have).
Hsueh Qu also has been kind enough to provide critical comments on several
chapters. Through the Hume Society’s mentoring program, I have received
valuable feedback and professional advice from Donald Ainslie, James Har-
ris, and David Owen. An anonymous reviewer for Lexington Books provided
world-class critical comments on the entire manuscript of this book. I bear
full responsibility for the remaining defects of this book, but they would have
been far more egregious without the input of these scholars.
I owe a large debt of gratitude to both the Institute for the Study of Scottish
Philosophy (formerly the Center for the Study of Scottish Philosophy) and
the Hume Society, whose constituencies happily overlap. Their respective
annual conferences are delightful and invigorating. Over the years I have
profited from conversations with Miren Boehm, James Foster, Giovanni
Gellera, Gordon Graham, Mike Jacovides, Emily Kelahan, Esther Kroeker,
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Doug McDermid, Ben Nelson, Taro Okamura, Phil Reed, Todd Ryan, Corliss
Swain, and many more scholars than I can list here.
The local South Carolina philosophical community has sustained me in
various ways. The South Carolina Society for Philosophy keeps me con-
nected to philosophers from across the state and their wide-ranging research.
I am grateful for the friendship and professional support of several philoso-
phers at Furman University (including David Gandolfo, Aaron Simmons,
Mark Stone, and Sarah Worth), as well as the philosophy faculty at my alma
mater, the University of South Carolina, and my esteemed colleagues at
Greenville Technical College, in the Humanities Department and beyond.
Discussing ultimate issues with the students at Greenville Tech constantly
reminds me of the excitement and importance of philosophy.
Part of chapter 2 and significant portions of chapter 5 of this book were
published as “Hume’s Purely Practical Response to Philosophical Skepticism”
in Hume Studies, 43(2) (November 2017), 3–28, doi:10.1353/hms.2017.0005.
Much of chapter 4 appeared as “Hume on the Defeasible Justification of the
Vulgar Belief in Body,” in History of Philosophy Quarterly 36.4 (October
2019), 359–376, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48573190. In both cases, the
material has been reworked in various ways. I am grateful to the Hume Soci-
ety and to the University of Illinois Press for permission to reprint this work.
All quotations of Hume’s Treatise, Abstract, and first Enquiry are from the
edited versions of these works at Hume Texts Online (https://davidhume.org).
This free, open-access site is developed and maintained by Amyas Merivale,
and the texts are edited by Merivale and Peter Millican. The searchable texts
on the site have been invaluable to my research, and I am glad for the chance
to thank Merivale and Millican for their contribution to worldwide Hume
scholarship.
My most profound thanks are to my wife Patricia—the true, the good,
and the beautiful—who has made innumerable sacrifices to support my
philosophical pursuits. Wise men proportion their belief to the evidence, says
Hume, but Patricia has always believed in me far more than the evidence
could justify. She and our daughter Irene are my connections to the external
world and to the joy of living. It is to them that I dedicate this book.
List of Abbreviations
Works by David Hume
AT An Abstract of a Book lately Published; Entituled, A Treatise of
Human Nature, &c. Wherein the Chief Argument of that Book is
farther Illustrated and Explained, at Hume Texts Online (https://
davidhume.org), eds. Amyas Merivale and Peter Millican. Cita-
tions indicate paragraph numbers.
EHU An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, at Hume Texts
Online (https://davidhume.org), eds. Amyas Merivale and Peter
Millican. Citations indicate section and paragraph numbers.
EPM An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. Tom L.
Beauchamp (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). Citations
indicate section and paragraph numbers.
DNR Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and Other Writings,
ed. Dorothy Coleman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2007). Citations indicate part and paragraph numbers.
HL Letters of David Hume, 2 vols., ed. J. Y. T. Greig (New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1932). Citations indicate volume and page
numbers.
L Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh, eds.
Ernest C. Mossner and John V. Price (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Uni-
versity Press, 1967). Citations indicate page numbers.
MOL “My Own Life,” in Essays Moral, Political, Literary, ed.
Eugene F. Miller (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1987). Citations
indicate page numbers.
NHR The Natural History of Religion, in The Natural History of
Religion: A Critical Edition, ed. Tom L. Beauchamp (Oxford:
ix