Marking the tercentenary of David Hume's birth, Annette Baier has created an engaging guide to the philosophy of one of the greatest thinkers of Enlightenment Britain. Drawing deeply on a lifetime of scholarship and incisive commentary, she deftly weaves Hume's autobiography together with his writings and correspondence, finding in these personal experiences new ways to illuminate his ideas about religion, human nature, and the social order. Excerpts from Hume's autobiography at the beginning of each chapter open a window onto the eighteenth-century context in which Hume's philosophy developed. Famous in Christian Britain as a polymath and a nonbeliever, Hume recounts how his early encounters with clerical authority laid the foundation for his lifelong skepticism toward religion. In Scotland, where he grew up, he had been forced to study lists of sins in order to spot his own childish flaws, he reports. Later, as a young man, he witnessed the clergy's punishment of a pregnant unmarried servant, and this led him to question the violent consequences of the Church's emphasis on the doctrine of original sin. Baier's clear interpretation of Hume's "Treatise on Human Nature" explains the link between Hume's growing disillusionment and his belief that ethics should be based on investigations of human nature, not on religious dogma. Four months before he died, Hume concluded his autobiography with a eulogy he wrote for his own funeral. It makes no mention of his flaws, critics, or disappointments. Baier's more realistic account rivets our attention on connections between the way Hume lived and the way he thought - insights unavailable to Hume himself, perhaps, despite his lifelong introspection.
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Packed full of details and thought, and serves as a perfect primer to anyone who wants to try to understand [Hume's] work. -- Lesley McDowell Glasgow Herald 20111001
About the Author
Annette C. Baier is Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy Emerita at the University of Pittsburgh.
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So Who Was David Hume After All?
26 Mar 2012
By Erez Davidi
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
David Hume was one of the leading people in the Empiricist movement in philosophy. Empiricism doubts all principles and human knowledge unless they were learned from experience, as opposed to its major "rival" at the time, Rationalism, which asserts that reason is the source of human knowledge. Hume also held quite mild atheist ideas, at least for our time, but quite radical for then, which often interfered with his career.
In the introduction, the author makes it very clear that The Pursuits of Philosophy was written for the amateur philosopher who has an interest in learning about one of the leading philosophers of the Enlightenment Age. To ensure that the book is indeed suitable for the layman, she has even tested the book with her school teacher and nurse sisters.
Baier's writing style is very clear and precise, although somewhat dry in my opinion. Furthermore, even though this book is quite short, I still found it to be quite repetitive at times. Nonetheless, The Pursuits of Philosophy is an enjoyable read.
In the introduction, the author makes it very clear that The Pursuits of Philosophy was written for the amateur philosopher who has an interest in learning about one of the leading philosophers of the Enlightenment Age. To ensure that the book is indeed suitable for the layman, she has even tested the book with her school teacher and nurse sisters.
Baier's writing style is very clear and precise, although somewhat dry in my opinion. Furthermore, even though this book is quite short, I still found it to be quite repetitive at times. Nonetheless, The Pursuits of Philosophy is an enjoyable read.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
a (too) short time with Le Bon David
28 May 2012
By Massimo Pigliucci
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
From time to time I simply have to spend some time in the company of David Hume, either by reading him or by reading about him. He is one of the most prominent philosophers of all time, and definitely one of the top three in my personal pantheon (in case you are wondering, the other two are Aristotle and Bertrand Russell). Which is why I picked up this slim volume by Annette Baier. Too slim, as it turns out. Baier strives to give her readers a flavor of the complexities and nuances of Hume's philosophy - as well as a peek into his life, but a flavor and a peek is also we get, unfortunately. Each chapter begins with a good pedagogical device: Baier quotes from Hume's (ironically, extremely brief) autobiography, to give us an idea of what the man thought of himself and what had happened to him. Then she picks up on the same themes and explains their philosophical and historical background. Thus we get chapters on Hume's youth and his loss of faith; on his relations with his family and his first trip to France (during which he stayed near the Jesuit college where Descartes had been educated); on his second career as a historian; and on the admirable way he spent his last days as a secularist surrounded by religious bigotry. But the whole thing is accomplished in a mere 176 pages (in the non-electronic version), far too short to do justice to such a hugely influential figure, even in contemporary philosophy. A shame, and a good opportunity only partially fulfilled.
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