• Abbreviations; Preface; Introduction; 1. Setting sympathy's stage; 2. Displacing providence; 3. 'Poetical systems' and the pleasures of tragedy; 4. Sympathetic understanding and the threat of difference; 5. Religion and irrationality in history; Conclusion; Bibliography.

"Herdt has written a well-documented text that is particularly helpful in providing insight into the historial and contemporary influences on Hume." W. F. Desmond, Choice

• Abbreviations; Preface; Introduction; 1. Setting sympathy's stage; 2. Displacing providence; 3. 'Poetical systems' and the pleasures of tragedy; 4. Sympathetic understanding and the threat of difference; 5. Religion and irrationality in history; Conclusion; Bibliography.

"Herdt has written a well-documented text that is particularly helpful in providing insight into the historial and contemporary influences on Hume." W. F. Desmond, Choice

• Abbreviations; Preface; Introduction; 1. Setting sympathy's stage; 2. Displacing providence; 3. 'Poetical systems' and the pleasures of tragedy; 4. Sympathetic understanding and the threat of difference; 5. Religion and irrationality in history; Conclusion; Bibliography.

"Herdt has written a well-documented text that is particularly helpful in providing insight into the historial and contemporary influences on Hume." W. F. Desmond, Choice