Project MUSE®: Hume Studies - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Hume Studies.daily12026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 1 (1975) through current issueLatest Articles: Hume StudiesTWOProject MUSE®Hume Studies1947-99210319-7336Latest articles in Hume Studies. Feed provided by Project MUSE®Fifth Hume Studies Essay Prize Winner
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989189
<p></p>
The officers of the Hume Society and the editors of Hume Studies are pleased to announce the winner of the Fifth Hume Studies Essay Prize. The winning essay is a co-authored paper.The recipients of the prize for 2025 are Robert Ziegler and Travis Tanner, for their essay, "Shepherd Contra Hume on Ordinary Induction."Mr. Ziegler is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Virginia and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. His work centers on the history of philosophy, particular on Leibniz, Shepherd, Suárez, and Augustine. Dr. Tanner received his Ph.D. in 2024 from the University of Virginia and currently teaches Philosophy and Religion at Austin Peay State University. He coedited The Cartesian Mind
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallFifth Hume Studies Essay Prize Winner2026-05-05text/htmlen-USFifth Hume Studies Essay Prize Winner2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®28622026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Editors' Introduction
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989190
<p></p>
We first bring to your attention the announcement in the front of this issue of the winner of the Fifth Hume Studies Essay Prize (2025). The Essay Prize competition is an annual event. Please note that the Call for Papers for the Sixth Hume Studies Essay Prize can be found at the back of this issue.In this issue of Hume Studies, along with our refereed articles and solicited book reviews, we present two special panels. One consists of papers that were first delivered at a workshop on "Hume's Dark Passions: Analysis, Genealogy, and Context," organized by Alessio Vaccari, at the Department of Philosophy, Sapienza Università di Roma, in June 2025. We thank Professor Vaccari for his organizational and editorial work
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallEditors' Introduction2026-05-05text/htmlen-USEditors' Introduction2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®24222026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Hume on Characters, Virtues, and "Durable Principles of the Mind"
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989191
<p></p>
When Hume first introduces his theory of moral evaluation, he claims that to "approve of a character is to feel an original delight upon its appearance" (T 2.1.7.5).1 He often states that we approve or disapprove of characters.2 Hume calls the approved parts of a character "virtues," and the disapproved parts "vices" (T 2.1.7.3). He also argues that we never morally evaluate actions as such:
If any action be either virtuous or vicious, 'tis only as a sign of some quality or character. It must depend upon durable principles of the mind, which extend over the whole conduct, and enter into the personal character. Actions themselves, not proceeding from any constant principle, have no influence on love or hatred
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHume on Characters, Virtues, and "Durable Principles of the Mind"2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHume on Characters, Virtues, and "Durable Principles of the Mind"2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®1059962026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05The Obligation and Value of Justice in Hume
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989192
<p></p>
What is the relationship between the obligation to do as justice demands and the value that justice has? Some philosophers, especially some of those in both the natural rights tradition and the contractarian tradition, completely detach the obligation of justice from its value. They think that our obligation to abide by the demands of justice has nothing at all to do with the social value or values that just institutions promote and instead depends on the necessity of respecting rights or the promotion of our individual self-interest, respectively. Other philosophers, particularly those in the utilitarian tradition, think that the obligation of justice is a straightforward deduction from the value of doing as
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallThe Obligation and Value of Justice in Hume2026-05-05text/htmlen-USThe Obligation and Value of Justice in Hume2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®1054662026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Introduction to Invited Panel on Hume's Dark Passions
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989193
<p></p>
"Dark" passions have come to occupy an increasingly central place in recent interpretations of Hume's account of human psychology. Over the past decades, influential studies have drawn attention both to the close link between these passions and the psychological principles that sustain human sociality, and to their broader significance for understanding the moral dynamics at play in relationships shaped by asymmetries of power and recognition.The former line of inquiry has been developed in exemplary fashion by Gerald Postema, who argues that passions such as malice and envy—however morally troubling—cannot simply be eradicated, as they arise from the operation of comparison, "a psychological principle that is
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallIntroduction to Invited Panel on Hume's Dark Passions2026-05-05text/htmlen-USIntroduction to Invited Panel on Hume's Dark Passions2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®151012026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Anxiety and Hume's Philosophy
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989194
<p></p>
Anxiety, perhaps the prevalent dark passion of the modern age, plays an important role in Hume's philosophy, and here I shall explore this passion and the roles it plays. I begin with a sketch of the nature and function of anxiety as an emotion. I then turn to examine Hume's texts in light of this discussion. First, I excavate Hume's understanding of anxiety and, second, turn to its role in his understanding of doubt. Finally, I examine the role of anxiety in the "false religions" of enthusiasm and superstition, and this will involve a discussion of anxiety as a mood rather than an emotion.In contemporary culture, first thoughts about anxiety tend to the clinical, the thoughts that anxiety is a mental health
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallAnxiety and Hume's Philosophy2026-05-05text/htmlen-USAnxiety and Hume's Philosophy2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®572682026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Hume on Contempt, Race, and the Homo Monstrosus
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989195
<p></p>
In the essay "Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations" (1752), Hume states that the "inhuman sport at Rome," that uses gladiators to amuse Roman citizens, is an "effect of the people's contempt for slaves" (E-PA 386n16). Disapprovingly, he adds that "a man could almost be pleased, by a single blow, to put an end to such a race of monsters" (E-PA 386n16). Contempt here figures as the mark of monstrous people, in this case, the Romans, who treat their slaves inhumanely.On the face of it, Hume's disapproval suggests that, for him, every human creature, no matter their social standing or ethnic background, counts as human. By raising this issue, he seems to underline the inclusivity of his concept of human nature, which
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHume on Contempt, Race, and the Homo Monstrosus2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHume on Contempt, Race, and the Homo Monstrosus2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®1110022026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Resentment, Injury, and the Moralization of Justice in Hume
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989196
<p></p>
Hume famously describes resentment as a "dark" passion (EPM App. 2.13; 302)1—one that can work against the overall interests of human beings. Indeed, in the form of vengeance, it may lead a person to harm both others and themselves, disregarding "ease, interest, or safety."2 He contrasts it with "benevolence" and "friendship," which promote human happiness. Yet, like other "dark" passions, Hume also acknowledges that under certain conditions resentment can be useful to human beings. As Annette Baier first argued, resentment is an instinct which, like all non-hedonic passions, is oriented toward the continuation of human nature in some essential aspect.3 In particular, elaborating on Hume's remarks in EPM 3.18–19
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallResentment, Injury, and the Moralization of Justice in Hume2026-05-05text/htmlen-USResentment, Injury, and the Moralization of Justice in Hume2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®792312026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Hume's Conception of Malice and the Principle of Comparison: Raising Questions and Discovering Applications
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989197
<p></p>
In his Treatise, Hume states that malice "imitates the effects of hatred, as pity does those of love; and gives us a joy in the sufferings and miseries of others, without any offence or injury on their part" (T 2.2.8.1; SBN 372).1 The misery of another gives us a livelier idea of our own happiness and can produce delight, in those cases where the principle of comparison is at work instead of sympathy (T 2.2.8.8; SBN 375). Just as hearing of someone's misfortune may make us newly appreciate the safety and advantages of our own situation, so even some unfortunate past experience of our own may be dwelt on in satisfaction as we reflect on how our circumstances have improved over time. An academic may look back on
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHume's Conception of Malice and the Principle of Comparison: Raising Questions and Discovering Applications2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHume's Conception of Malice and the Principle of Comparison: Raising Questions and Discovering Applications2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®468692026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Hume on Ill Will and the Possibility of Forgiveness
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989198
<p></p>
Hume's sentimentalist theory of ethics explains our moral evaluations of character traits and actions either as certain types of feelings (sentiments, or what today we call emotions) or as the products of those feelings. One might expect such a theory to provide a helpful account of forgiveness, which seems, at first glance, to have an important affective aspect, particularly if we think of personal forgiveness rather than, say, a formality such as forgiving a debt. But Hume does not write about forgiveness at all in his philosophical work, and while he mentions it in his History of England from time to time, he never analyzes the concept or explains how forgiveness occurs. One can, however, examine Hume's theory
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHume on Ill Will and the Possibility of Forgiveness2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHume on Ill Will and the Possibility of Forgiveness2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®884212026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Hume and the Possibility of Masochism
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989199
<p></p>
In 1870, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch published Venus in Furs,1 which tells the story of a man who seeks out degradation by enslaving himself to a woman. Twenty years later, Richard von Krafft-Ebing borrowed this author's name to label the paraphilia in which people pursue pain, especially in sexual relations: masochism.2 In A Treatise of Human Nature,3 David Hume notes an intimate link between pleasure and desire, pain and aversion. My question is whether Hume has made this link so intimate that he has simply ruled out the possibility of masochistic desires: Can a Humean agent seek pain?4 In answering this question, I consider three prominent interpretations of Hume's theory of motivation—Peter Kail's, Rachel
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHume and the Possibility of Masochism2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHume and the Possibility of Masochism2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®876702026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Lorne Falkenstein's Discussion of Hume's Proof of (Merely) Finite Divisibility
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989200
<p></p>
In Chapter 2 of his very rich and rigorously argued book, Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought,1 Lorne endorses Hume's proof for the finite divisibility of ideas and that of impressions in the Treatise.2 I will argue that both proofs fail, Lorne's valiant defense notwithstanding.Hume's argument that Lorne endorses rests on a premise, Lorne says, "even the Platonists will concede": the mind has a "finite capacity." The "Platonists" are those who reject the Copy Principle, and are, therefore, most distant philosophically from Hume as is possible. The allusion to them suggests that Lorne agrees with Hume in taking the premise to be uncontroversial. Indeed, Hume does not even attempt to justify it
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallLorne Falkenstein's Discussion of Hume's Proof of (Merely) Finite Divisibility2026-05-05text/htmlen-USLorne Falkenstein's Discussion of Hume's Proof of (Merely) Finite Divisibility2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®336702026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Falkenstein on Manners of Disposition, Time, and Identity
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989201
<p></p>
It seems to me that the central thread in Lorne Falkenstein's important book is an empiricist account of objectivity. As Lorne puts it, Kant poses the problem how, in the welter of our sensory experiences, we come to recognize objects. For instance, in visual experience, how do we come to delineate images of various objects, and how do we come to identify the perishing, perspective-dependent images with durable, multi-faceted objects?1 Lorne takes it that Hume's discussion of space and time as manners of disposition contains materials that would have allowed him to address this question in ways beyond what he actually says.An advantage of Lorne's proposed empiricist account of objectivity is that it enables Hume to
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallFalkenstein on Manners of Disposition, Time, and Identity2026-05-05text/htmlen-USFalkenstein on Manners of Disposition, Time, and Identity2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®330082026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Humean Skepticism and the Metaphysics of Impressions: Questions for Falkenstein
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989202
<p></p>
Lorne Falkenstein's terrific book is a study of central themes of Hume's theoretical philosophy, with due focus on the Treatise and first Enquiry.1 The book displays an impressive combination of breadth and depth. While the discussion includes a wide range of topics, such as belief, identity, space and time, the metaphysics of mind, and skepticism, Lorne's consideration of each is exacting and detailed. Another virtue of the book is its rigorous and illuminating interrogations of Hume's positions and arguments. It is a major contribution to the study of Hume's philosophy, and every scholar of eighteenth-century metaphysics and epistemology would benefit from engaging with it. I begin by considering a cluster of
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallHumean Skepticism and the Metaphysics of Impressions: Questions for Falkenstein2026-05-05text/htmlen-USHumean Skepticism and the Metaphysics of Impressions: Questions for Falkenstein2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®411632026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Spatial Perception and the Unity of Consciousness: Comments on Falkenstein's Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989203
<p></p>
It is a humbling experience to prepare comments on Lorne Falkenstein's excellent book, herein called Hume's Remedy (Lorne prefers this shorter title).1 The standard of philosophical and scholarly work that Lorne sets, here and elsewhere, is aspirational for me. Hume's Remedy is philosophically searching, creative, and rigorously developed; it is informed by a rich understanding of the intellectual context in which Hume worked; and at the same time, it shows keen-eyed attention to the details of the texts with which it deals.Two further virtues of the book are, first, that Lorne delights in "tak[ing] … matter[s] pretty deep," as Hume would put it. And second, that he does not shy away from challenging and rejecting
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallSpatial Perception and the Unity of Consciousness: Comments on Falkenstein's Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought2026-05-05text/htmlen-USSpatial Perception and the Unity of Consciousness: Comments on Falkenstein's Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®424332026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Replies to My Colleagues
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989204
<p></p>
My work is as good as it may be because my colleagues have pressed me so hard.CTS1 rejects Hume's reasons and motives for denying the infinite divisibility of space and time. But I contest Ruth Weintraub's critique of his position on the finite divisibility of ideas and impressions.2 That position underwrites a psychological holism worth defending.Hume concluded that our ideas must be finitely divisible because the capacity of the mind is limited. Ruth asks how we are to understand that premise. She dismisses taking it to refer to the number of items the mind can contain, charging that since the premise is stronger than the conclusion, the argument would rely on what it aims to establish. I think that Hume
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallReplies to My Colleagues2026-05-05text/htmlen-USReplies to My Colleagues2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®561562026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects by David Hume (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989205
<p></p>
Angela Coventry and Broadview Press have produced an outstanding edition of the Treatise that especially deserves consideration for use in undergraduate courses but will also serve scholars. Broadview Press is a Canadian independent academic publisher that strives "in particular to produce high-quality, pedagogically useful books for higher education classrooms."1 The Treatise is the third Hume volume in Broadview's philosophy catalog, having previously published An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (2011), edited by Lorne Falkenstein, and Essays and Treatises on Philosophical Subjects (including both Enquiries, Dissertation on the Passions, and The Natural History of Religion) (2013), edited by Falkenstein
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallA Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects by David Hume (review)2026-05-05text/htmlen-USA Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects by David Hume (review)2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®170502026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art by Michael B. Gill (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989206
<p></p>
Encountering Shaftesbury's work can be a "strange experience," warns Michael Gill in this volume. To twenty-first century readers used to the kind of prose characteristic of analytic philosophy, Shaftesbury's convoluted style and apparent lack of argumentative rigour may even be "off-putting" (2). A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art is certainly not. Gill's writing style is lucid and accessible, and the book invites both experts and newcomers to see what there is to learn from Shaftesbury's texts. Gill clearly explains the central role of beauty in Shaftesbury's philosophy, and how it links to virtue and to the understanding and appreciation of nature and God.Shaftesbury was born in 1671
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallA Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art by Michael B. Gill (review)2026-05-05text/htmlen-USA Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art by Michael B. Gill (review)2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®174712026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05The Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination by Aaron Alexander Zubia (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989207
<p></p>
Modern liberals, argues Aaron Alexander Zubia, live impoverished existences because our politics denies "an objective, overarching order" (256). "By our emphasis on the useful and the pleasant," he writes, "we are missing out on what is truly good" (247). How did we arrive at such a low point? Who is to blame for our plight? Might we hope to recover a "rich and enobling" (264) vision of political life that involves reasoning about "an accessible, shareable, universal, objective order that points human beings toward true, rather than apparent goods" (256)? These are the questions that Zubia addresses in his fine book.In his day, David Hume was regularly accused of subverting the foundations of morality and of
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallThe Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination by Aaron Alexander Zubia (review)2026-05-05text/htmlen-USThe Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination by Aaron Alexander Zubia (review)2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®152662026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05Call for Papers: Sixth Hume Studies Essay Prize (2026)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208
<p></p>
The Hume Society and Hume Studies invite submissions for the Sixth Hume Studies Essay Prize.The annual competition is open to those ten or fewer years from the Ph.D., including those currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program.The winning paper will be published with acknowledgment in Hume Studies, and the author will receive $1,000 US.*Hume Studies, the interdisciplinary journal of the Hume Society, publishes work on all aspects of David Hume and his world.To be eligible for the prize, papers must be submitted any time before and including August 1, 2026 (11:59 New York time). Since this is an ongoing annual competition, qualified papers submitted after this deadline will be considered in the next year's
... <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/989208">Read More</a>
Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-16T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/432/image/coversmallCall for Papers: Sixth Hume Studies Essay Prize (2026)2026-05-05text/htmlen-USCall for Papers: Sixth Hume Studies Essay Prize (2026)2026-05-052026TWOProject MUSE®35692026-05-16T00:00:00-05:002026-05-05