Hume

by Barry Stroud

Many recent books on Hume have concentrated only on particular issues in his philosophy and have presented at best a fragmentary picture. This study, which is intelligible to the virtual beginner in philosophy as well as being of interest to Hume scholars and to philosophers dealing with the problems he discussed, offers a more consistent, unified interpretation and emphasizes the interest and importance of Hume's views for philosophers today.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Barry Stroud was a Canadian philosopher.

Reviews

[Leigh Jackson]

A good overview of Hume’s thought that provides sympathetic but still critical reconstructions of Hume’s central arguments. My only criticism would be that Stroud probably spends too much time on the flaws of the arguments in the Treatise (particularly the skeptical conclusions found there) rather than Hume’s second thoughts in the Enquiries. There Hume arguably rectified some of those flaws with a more “mitigated scepticism” that’s more like fallibilism than the radical skepticism often attributed to him.

[Adrian Buck]

This is an exceptionally clearly written philosophical exposition of Humes major metaphysical positions. Hume was, as Stroud makes clear, handicapped by his uncritical acceptance of the 'theory of ideas' he inherited from Locke. But I think Hume was not primarily interested in metaphysics or epistemology, but in social and political theory. At least it was Hume's ideas in moral philosophy that interested me all those years ago. Now looking for a book more focused on them.

[Seyed]

Stroud's critical attitude to Hume is useful as a secondary source in evaluating his philosophy. Some of his interpretations are suspect and I would recommend reading other sources as well.