In Hume's Radical Scepticism, Janet Broughton parts ways with current
scholars who see Hume primarily as a naturalist philosopher pursuing
the "science of man." Instead, she argues, Hume is a radical sceptic.
Attending to Hume's literary strategies in A Treatise of Human Nature,
she uncovers the philosophical significance of narration, irony, and
what she calls "subjectivizing." Broughton begins by tracking two
broad features of Hume's investigations. One is the status of the
commonsense assumption that we have a large body of justified and true
beliefs about the world around us. The other is the status of the
cognitive norms of clarity, consistency, and evidence. She argues that
Hume cedes great authority to the commonsense assumption and does not
challenge it in the first three parts of the Treatise's first book.
The negative arguments of those parts, she contends, are deflationary
in character, not sceptical. But Broughton also argues that in Part 4,
where Hume examines our beliefs in the world of physical objects, his
unwavering adherence to the cognitive norms forces him to reject the
commonsense assumption. Still, how could Hume maintain that we have no
good reason for making the commonsense assumption that we all make
about the world? The view seems untenable for any sane person, and it
seems especially untenable for Hume, who goes on to make many claims
about the world as he investigates the passions and morals in Books
Two and Three of the Treatise. Here is where Broughton's attention to
the literary features of Hume's work comes to the fore. It enables her
to describe an attitude of ironic detachment that, she argues,
permeates his commitment to the truth of scepticism. In this exciting
new book, Broughton offers a brand new way to interpret one of the
most important figures in the history of philosophy.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780197805732
Publisert
2026
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic US
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter