Hume on Art, Emotion, and Superstition

Amyas Merivale works at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK. He is the co-editor of Hume’s　Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, with Writings on Aesthetics and the Passions, and the developer of davidhume.org. His published work has appeared in the British Journal of Aesthetics and Hume Studies.

• IntroductionPart I1. My Design in the Present Work2. Some Late Philosophers in England3. Founded on Pain and Pleasure4. A Considerable AdjustmentPart II5. The Religious Passion6. The First Religious Principles7. The Object of the Passions8. The Combat of Passion and Reason9. The Causes of the Violent Passions10. The Predominant Passion11. The Sentiments of Beauty12. The Laws of CriticismConclusionAppendix 1. The Meaning of All the TermsAppendix 2. Comparison of Ideas

"Merivale provides the reader with an exceptionally clear, systematic overview of Hume's arguments in the Four Dissertations. He does an excellent job contextualizing Hume's writings in their historical contexts, providing useful overviews of the positions of lesser known authors such as Trenchard, Bolingbroke, and DuBos. Merivale also does a fine job distinguishing his own account from a wide variety of alternative contemporary interpretations of Hume's positions on emotion, art, and religion. These sections illuminate the Four Dissertations in a way that has never been done before." – Mark Collier in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"This book proposes a bold new thesis on the development of Hume’s thought, challenging long-held opinions. It demonstrates that Hume’s account of the passions is more central to his positions on other topics than has up to now been assumed and makes a strong case for why it should be recognized to have changed over time, contesting the received view that Hume’s philosophical opinions were constant throughout his lifetime." – Lorne Falkenstein, University of Western Ontario, Canada