Origins of Justice, Property, and Government and Conflicts of Real Politics in David Hume

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is decidedly limited, specifically, to an examination of some of the principal points of Hume's philosophy of politics. The main argument of this essay is twofold. First, by discussing Hume’s original utilization of social convention in explaining the origins of justice, property, and government, it is argued that Hume is not a social contractarian, a thesis contrary to the one advanced by Gauthier. Second, by examining the question of how Hume addressed the contemporary political context of his day, it is argued that Hume has shifted his views on the status and progress of liberty in the British polity because of his philosophical skepticism, which cares for moral calculation for the excesses of practical politics