Hume's An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals: A Critical Guide (Cambridge Critical Guides)

"Hume considered his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals to be one of his best works. In it he offers his most elegant and approachable account of the origins and scope of morality. With the hope of reaching a broad audience, he argues that morality is neither rigid nor austere, but is rather a product of sentiments that all human beings share, and which they are naturally inclined to recognize and act upon. In this Critical Guide, a team of distinguished scholars discuss each section of the Enquiry, its place in Hume's philosophy as a whole, and its historical context; their topics include the nature of morals, talents and moral virtues, benevolence, sympathy, and the sources of moral disagreement. The volume will be valuable for scholars and advanced students working on Hume"-- Provided by publisher frontmatter 1 introduction 11 01nature_of_morals_founded_on_the_human_fabric 23 02pride_of_pericles 43 03justice_and_politics_in_the_enquiry_concerning_the_principles_of_morals 63 04history_context_and_the_conventions_of_political_society 82 05why_utility_pleases 103 06hume_on_talents_and_moral_virtues 123 07virtues_suspect_and_sublime 144 08sympathy_and_the_sources_of_moral_sentiment 164 09virtue_and_moral_psychology_in_the_enquiry_concerning_the_principles_of_morals 182 10hume_cicero_and_the_ancients 202 11hume_on_religion_in_the_enquiry_concerning_the_principles_of_morals 229 12moral_disagreement 248 bibliography 267 index 279 This volume offers an in-depth overview of Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, one of the major texts of early modern philosophy. It analyses the work section by section and assesses its historical context and its place within Hume's philosophy as a whole.