Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium: Hume's Pathology of Philosophy FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Scottish philosopher David Hume is commonly understood as the original proponent of the "end of philosophy." In this powerful new study, Donald Livingston completely revises our understanding of Hume's thought through his investigation of Hume's distinction between "true" and "false" philosophy. For Hume, false philosophy leads either to melancholy over the groundlessness of common opinion or delirium over transcending it, while true philosophy leads to wisdom. Livingston traces this distinction through all of Hume's writings, providing a systematic pathology of the corrupt philosophical consciousness in history, politics, philosophy, and literature that characterized Hume's own time as well as ours.
By demonstrating how a philosophical method can be used to expose the political motivations behind intellectual positions, historical events, and their subsequent interpretations, Livingston revitalizes Hume's thought and reveals its relevance for contemporary dicussions of politics, nationalism, and ideology for the first time.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
A study of Hume's conception of philosophy as it is grounded in his distinction between true and false philosophy. Livingston (philosophy, Emory U.) touches on all of Hume's writings and subjects such as morals, politics, civilization, barbarism, religion, history, literature, and law in the process of his exploration of Hume's answer to the question "What is philosophy?" Different philosopher's perspectives on Hume are also considered, including those of Descartes, Locke, and Berkeley. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
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