Publication
Title
Hume's "Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals" and "The Whole Duty of Man"
Author
Abstract
I examine, in this paper, the contents of one of the most famous religious texts of the early modern period, The Whole Duty of Man, and I show that Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Man is an attempt to reappropriate and replace the Anglican devotional with his own moral philosophy. Hume would reject the devotional's general methodology, its claims about the foundation of morality, and its list of duties. However, a careful reading of The Whole Duty of Man reveals that Hume shares its author's evaluation of pride and humility, and its insistence on utility and pleasure. Hume, I argue, would not think of this book as mortifying or monkish. Given the popularity of The Whole Duty of Man and Hume's desire to push religion back into the closet together with his passion for literary fame, we have good reasons to conclude that Hume was more envious than critical, and that the EPM was his own remastered version of what could be called ‘The Whole Merit of Man’.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of Scottish philosophy. - Edinburgh, 2003, currens
Publication
Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press , 2020
ISSN
1479-6651 [print]
1755-2001 [online]
DOI
10.3366/JSP.2020.0263
Volume/pages
18 :2 (2020) , p. 117-132
ISI
000600536800002
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Naturalizing religion: in Search of Hume's Heritage for Contemporary Cognitive Science of Religion.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
VABB-SHW
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 11.08.2020
Last edited 17.08.2024
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