Hume's An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals: A Critical Guide

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Esther Engels Kroeker, Willem Lemmens
Cambridge University Press, Jan 7, 2021 - Philosophy - 290 pages
Hume considered his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals to be one of his best works. In it he offers his most elegant and approachable account of the origins and scope of morality. With the hope of reaching a broad audience, he argues that morality is neither rigid nor austere, but is rather a product of sentiments that all human beings share, and which they are naturally inclined to recognize and act upon. In this Critical Guide, a team of distinguished scholars discuss each section of the Enquiry, its place in Hume's philosophy as a whole, and its historical context; their topics include the nature of morals, talents and moral virtues, benevolence, sympathy, and the sources of moral disagreement. The volume will be valuable for scholars and advanced students working on Hume.
 

Contents

Elizabeth S Radcliffe
13
Hume on SelfLove Benevolence
33
Justice and Politics in the Enquiry Concerning the Principles
53
History Context and the Conventions of Political Society
72
A Surprising Source of Discord
93
James Fieser
113
Virtues Suspect
149
Sympathy and the Sources of Moral Sentiment
161
Hume Cicero and the Ancients
192
Hume on Religion in the Enquiry Concerning the Principles
219
33
233
Moral Disagreement
238
Bibliography
257
72
263
Index
269
Copyright

the Principles of Morals
172

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About the author (2021)

Esther Engels Kroeker is a research fellow in philosophy at the University of Antwerp. She is co-editor of Love, Reason and Morality (with Katrien Schaubroeck, 2017) and has published numerous articles on the moral philosophy and philosophy of religion of David Hume and Thomas Reid. Willem Lemmens is Professor of early Modern Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Antwerp. He is co-editor of a translation into Dutch of Hume's Natural History of Religion (with Walter van Herck, 1999/2011) and has written many articles on the moral philosophy and philosophy of religion of David Hume.

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