Reflecting Subjects: Passion, Sympathy, and Society in Hume’s Philosophy

Jacqueline Taylor offers an original reconstruction of Hume’s social theory, before turning to examine Hume’s moral philosophy, Reflecting Subjects begins with a close examination of Hume’s use of an experimental method to explain the origin, nature and effects of pride, an indirect passion that reflects a person’s sense of self-worth. In explaining the origin of pride in terms of efficient causes, Hume displaces the traditional appeal to final causes, and is positioned to give an account of the significance for us of the passions in terms of a social theory. Taylor goes on to reconstruct this social theory, examine Hume’s account of social power, and explore Hume’s system of ethics. She argues for the importance of Hume’s more sophisticated moral philosophy in his Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, since it emphasizes certain virtues of good moral evaluation. She establishes the principle of humanity as the central concept of Hume’s Enlightenment philosophy.