David Hume’s Political Theory: Law, Commerce, and the Constitution of Government (review)

As its title suggests, this work provides a wide-ranging discussion and interpretation of David Hume’s political philosophy. McArthur’s main arguments are threefold. First, the watershed between civilized and barbarous societies for Hume lies in the establishment of the rule of law. According to the author, what Hume called a “civilized monarchy,” though falling short of the ideal republic, can be regarded as a civilized form of government. This is because Hume believed that, with the exception of the monarch him- or herself, people could be governed by the rule of law in such a political system. Second, McArthur coins the term ‘precautionary conservatism’ to define Hume’s political standpoint. This is an attempt to bridge the division between those commentators who define the philosopher as liberal, on one hand, and those who style him a conservative, on the other. The author notes that Hume regarded liberty as a universal ideal and espoused a doctrine of mankind’s natural rights, an element of Hume’s thought that has often been underplayed in conservative interpretations. Finally, McArthur not only pays due attention to the significance of commerce for Hume as a driving force of civilization; he also makes it clear that Hume’s support for luxury is backed up by his keen awareness of the importance of constitution in preserving manners. Unlike what the author calls “civic moralists,” who tend to consider public virtuousness a prerequisite for a good constitution, McArthur argues that Hume, as a constitutionalist, believed instead that a well-designed constitution was the premise on which good citizenship was grounded.

A thorough grounding in Hume scholarship, ranging from Duncan Forbes’ discussion of Hume on civilized monarchy to John B. Stewart’s reading of Hume as a liberal, has enabled McArthur to present the most comprehensive possible account of Hume’s political philosophy. However, his efforts to provide a readily comprehensible synthesis at times leads the author to sacrifice a detailed analysis of Hume’s social and political thought. The distinction between barbarous and civilized is too roughly sketched in this volume for the author to pay sufficient attention to the fact that Hume himself regarded a civilized monarchy as inferior to a republic because of the greater regularity and predictability of the latter political mechanism. According to McArthur, Hume’s ranking of these two forms of government is solely because a monarch is above the law which applies to his subjects. McArthur then tries to reconstruct Hume’s concept of a civilized monarchy, arguing that, if monarchs limit their own role in legislative power, this type of government can avoid the arbitrary exercise of power. Although this new conceptualization of Hume’s civilized monarchy is attractive, more textual evidence is needed to support the claim that it was Hume’s own intention. The author claims that Hume defines monarchy as civilized when the monarch deliberately limits his or her capacity for arbitrary transgressions of the rule of law. If the existence of civilized monarchy depends upon such personal prudence, however, this is a matter neither of constitution nor of the rule of law. It is true that he expressed relatively greater appreciation for the French monarchy of his day than many of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, Hume’s appreciation for the sunnier side of monarchy should not blind us to its dark side, of which the philosopher remained constantly aware.

The phrase ‘precautionary conservatism’ coined by McArthur also requires more careful explanation and elaboration. As the author suggests, Hume distanced himself from the standpoints of both the abstract theorist and the obstinate traditionalist. This much is undeniable, but how and to what extent this will contribute to our further understanding of Hume’s political thought is debatable. After all, no political philosopher would admit that he or she is doctrinaire. The adjective ‘precautionary’ is value-laden from the very first and serves mainly to demonstrate the author’s belief in...