Reconciling the Stoic and the Sceptic: Hume on Philosophy as a Way of Life and the Plurality of Happy Lives

British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21 (5):879 - 901 (2013)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

On the one hand, Hume accepts the view -- which he attributes primarily to Stoicism -- that there exists a determinate best and happiest life for human beings, a way of life led by a figure whom Hume calls "the true philosopher." On the other hand, Hume accepts that view -- which he attributes to Scepticism -- that there exists a vast plurality of good and happy lives, each potentially equally choiceworthy. In this paper, I reconcile Hume's apparently conflicting commitments: I argue that Hume's "Sceptical" pluralism about the character of the happiest life need not conflict with his "Stoic" advocacy of the supreme happiness of the true philosopher, given Hume's flexible understanding of how one might live as a true philosopher

Similar books and articles

Is Hume a Sceptic with Regard to Reason?Fred Wilson - 1984 - Philosophy Research Archives 10:275-319.
Life extension versus replacement.Gustaf Arrhenius - 2008 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (3):211-227.
Hume's standard of taste and the de gustibus sceptic.Brian Ribeiro - 2007 - British Journal of Aesthetics 47 (1):16-28.
The Stoic life: emotions, duties, and fate.Tad Brennan - 2005 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Hume and Ancient Philosophy.Peter Loptson - 2012 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 20 (4):741-772.
Enchiridion. Epictetus & George Long - 1913 - Mineola, NY: Courier Dover Publications. Edited by George Long.
The Value in Storytelling: Women’s Life-Stories in Confucianism and Judaism.Galia Patt-Shamir - 2010 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 9 (2):175-191.
The Ideal of the Stoic Sportsman.William Stephens & Randolph Feezell - 2004 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 31 (2):196-211.
The naturalistic response to scepticism.Ruth Weintraub - 2003 - Philosophy 78 (3):369-386.
“A happy excursion” and freedom.Lianhe Deng - 2010 - Frontiers of Philosophy in China 5 (3):313-326.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-10-18

Downloads
380 (#48,046)

6 months
147 (#18,439)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Matthew D. Walker
Yale-NUS College

Citations of this work

Hume's Real Riches.Charles Goldhaber - 2022 - History of Philosophy Quarterly 39 (1):45–57.
Hume's Skeptical Philosophy and the Moderation of Pride.Charles Goldhaber - forthcoming - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.

Add more citations