David Hume’s Science of Politics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3173.2021.v44n3.31.p401Keywords:
History of Philosophy, Politics, Science, Principles, David HumeAbstract
The paper presents an interpretation that systematizes Hume’s understanding of the principles of the science of politics. On the one hand, it is argued that the science of politics is a science about political forms of organization (for instance, monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy) founded upon axioms whose truth is eternal and unchangeable and independent of contextual factors – such as, for instance, culture, morals and education. On the other hand, the science of politics is also a science about the actions of human beings in society (for instance, the actions of a body of individuals that resists the tyranny of a governor) founded upon general maxims or principles whose truth is contingent and changeable and dependent of contextual factors.
Downloads
References
ADAIR, D. ‘That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science’: David Hume, James Madison, and the Tenth Federalist. In: Huntington Library Quarterly, v. XX, n. 4, p. 343-360, 1957.
COHEN, A. The Notion of Moral Progress in Hume’s Philosophy: Does Hume Have a Theory of Moral Progress? Hume Studies, v. XXVI, n. 1, p. 109-128.
CONNIFF, J. Hume’s Political Methodology: A Reconsideration of That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science. The Review of Politics, v. XXXVIII, p. 88-108, 1976.
DEES, R. Hume and the Contexts of Politics. Journal of the History of Philosophy, v. XXX, n. 2, p. 219-242, 1992.
FERGUSON, A. Essay on the History of Civil Society. OZ-SALZBERGER, F. (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
FORBES, D. Hume’s Philosophical Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
HAAKONSSEN, K. The Structure of Hume’s Political Theory. In: NORTON, D.; TAYLOR, J. (ed.). Cambridge Companion to Hume. 2. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
HUME, D. Political Essays. HAAKONSSEN, K. (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
HUME, D. A Treatise on Human Nature. NORTON, D.; NORTON, M. (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
HUME, D. Tratado da Natureza Humana. Trad. de D. Danowski, D. São Paulo: Editora UNESP – Imprensa Oficial do Estado, 2001.
HUME, D. Investigações sobre o Entendimento Humano e sobre os Princípios da Moral. Trad. de J. Almeida. São Paulo: Editora UNESP – Imprensa Oficial do Estado, 2004.
HUME, D. An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. BEAUCHAMP, T. (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
IMMERWAHR, J. The Anatomist and the Painter: The Continuity of Hume’s Treatise and Essays. Hume Studies, v. XVII, n. 1, p. 1-14, 1991.
McCORMICK, M. S. Hume’s Skeptical Politics. Hume Studies, v. XXXIX, n. 1, p. 77-102, 2013.
OZ-SALZBERGER, F. The Political Theory of the Scottish Enlightenment. In: BROADIE, A. (ed.). Cambridge Companion to the Scottish Enlightment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 157-177.
REID, T. Thomas Reid on Society and Politics. HAAKONSSEN, K.; WOOD, P. (ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015.
SCHMIDT, C. David Hume: Reason in History. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003.
ZAHREDDINE, S. David Hume e o Problema da Justificação da Resistência ao Governo. 2018. Tese (Doutorado em Filosofia) – Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 2018.
Recebido: 03/5/2019
Aceito: 14/8/2020
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 TRANS/FORM/AÇÃO: Revista de Filosofia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons license.
Este é um artigo de acesso aberto distribuído sob os termos da Creative Commons Attribution License.