Adam Smith and the Death of David Hume (eBook)

The Letter to Strahan and Related Texts

Dennis C. Rasmussen (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
108 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield (Verlag)
978-1-4985-8611-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This volume centers on an annotated edition of a short, controversial work that Adam Smith wrote on the last days, death, and character of his closest friend, the philosopher David Hume. It also includes several related texts as well as an extensive editor’s introduction.

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The Letter to Strahan is an ostensible letter that Adam Smith wrote on the last days, death, and character of his closest friend, the philosopher David Hume, and published alongside Hume's autobiography, My Own Life, in 1777. Other than his two books, it is the only work that Smith published under his name during his lifetime, and it elicited a great deal of commentary and controversy. Because of Hume's reputation for impiety, Smith's portrayal of his friend's cheerfulness and equanimity during his final days provoked outrage among the devout. Smith later commented that this work ';brought upon me ten times more abuse than the very violent attack I had made upon the whole commercial system of Great Britain'meaning, of course, The Wealth of Nations. This is the first annotated version of this fascinating and important work.Along with the Letter to Strahan, the volume also includes Hume's My Own Life, the work to which the Letter was a kind of companion piece; two personal letters related to the Letter; and three published responses to the Lettertwo viciously critical and one generally favorable. A substantial editor's introduction discusses the context, composition, publication, and significance of the Letter, along with the strong reaction that it provoked. Taken together, the works included in the volume provide an entertaining and accessible entree into some of the most controversial debates over religion and morality in the eighteenth century.

Autor

Dennis C. Rasmussen is professor of political science at Tufts University.

Inhalt

ChronologyA Note on the TextsDavid Hume, My Own LifeLetter from Adam Smith, LL.D. to William Strahan, Esq.James Edmonstoune to David Hume, 7 August 1776Adam Smith to Alexander Wedderburn, 14 August 1776George Horne, A Letter to Adam Smith LL.D. on the Life, Death, and Philosophy of His Friend David Hume Esq., By One of the People Called Christians'E. M.,' Remarks on Dr. Adam Smith’s Letter to Mr. Strahan, on the Death of David Hume, Esq.'Idem.,' Observations Relative to the Late David Hume, Esq.Bibliography

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.9.2018
• Verlagsort: Lanham
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Ethik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
• Schlagworte: Adam Smith • British history • Capitalism • David Hume • Death • Economic History • Eighteenth-Century Studies • Enlightenment • George Horne • History • History of Philosophy • Intellectual history • philosophic deaths • Political Science • political theory • Scottish Enlightenment • William Strahan
• ISBN-10: 1-4985-8611-2 / 1498586112
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4985-8611-5 / 9781498586115