Religion and Faction in Hume's Moral Philosophy

by Jennifer A. Herdt

Overview

This book explores Hume's concern with the destructiveness of religious factions and his efforts to develop, in his moral philosophy, a solution to factional conflict. Sympathy and the related capacity to enter into foreign points of view are crucial to the neutralization of religious zeal and the naturalization of ethics. Jennifer Herdt suggests that Hume's preoccupation with religious faction is the key which reveals the unity of his varied philosophical, aesthetic, political, and historical works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521554428
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/23/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought , #3
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

Abbreviations; Preface; Introduction; 1. Setting sympathy's stage; 2. Displacing providence; 3. 'Poetical systems' and the pleasures of tragedy; 4. Sympathetic understanding and the threat of difference; 5. Religion and irrationality in history; Conclusion; Bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

"Herdt has written a well-documented text that is particularly helpful in providing insight into the historial and contemporary influences on Hume." W. F. Desmond, Choice

"...Religion and Faction in Hume's Moral Philosophy constitutes a substantial and absolutely first class contribution to Hume scholarship." Antony Flew, International Philosophical Quarterly

"Herdt's book is an illuminating analysis both of the themes that tie together Hume's philosophy and of the history of developments in modern moral philosophy." Ethics

"Beyond its value as a study of complex and interrelated themes in Hume's writings, Herdt's book has relevance to conteomporary events. Herdt's book is an excellent introduction to a thinker whose understanding of religion and its role in public life continues to merit careful study." The Journal of Religion

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