Hume's Political Discourses (1752) won immediate acclaim and positioned him as an authoritative figure on the subject of political economy. This volume of thirteen new essays definitively establishes the central place of political economy in Hume's intellectual endeavor, as well as the profound and far-reaching influence of his theories on Enlightenment discourse and practice. A major strength of this collection is that the contributors come from a diverse set of fields -- philosophy, economics, political science, history and literature. This promotes a comprehensive reading of Hume's political economy, taking into account his entire set of writings and correspondence, in a way that captures his polymathic genius. Hume's analyses of trade and commerce not only delve into the institutions of money and markets, but also human agency, the role of reason and the passions, manners and social mores. Hume sought general principles but also concrete applications, whether he grappled with the problem of economic development (Scotland and Ireland), with the debates on luxury consumption (France), or with the mounting public debt (England). This book is a key resource for students and researchers in the areas of economic and political philosophy, history of economic and political theory, and the history of ideas.
1. Introduction Carl Wennerlind and Margaret Schabas 2.The Scottish Contexts for Hume's Political-Economic Thinking Roger Emerson 3. The Emergence of Hume as a Political Economist: A Biographical Sketch Ian Simpson Ross 4.Hume and Superfluous Value (or the Problem with Epictetus' Slippers) Christopher Berry 5. Manners and Morals: David Hume on Civility, Commerce, and the Social Construction of Difference Richard Boyd 6. Hume's Framework for a Natural History of the Passions Till Grune-Yanoff and Edward F. McClennen 7. An Artificial Virtue and the Oil of Commerce: A Synthetic View of Hume's Theory of Money Carl Wennerlind 8. Temporal Dimensions in Hume's Monetary Theory Margaret Schabas 9. Fiction or Counterfeit?: Hume's Philosophical Politics of Money C. George Caffentzis 10. David Hume and Canadian Paper Money Robert Dimand 11. French 'New Politics' and the Dissemination of David Hume's Political Discourses on the Continent, 1750--1770 Loic Charles 12. Hume's Political Discourses and the French Luxury Debate John Shovlin 13. Constitution and Economy in David Hume's Enlightenment Paul Cheney 14. The 'Rich Country--Poor Country' Debate Revisited [tk] Istvan Hont