David Hume's Political Theory: Law, Commerce, and the Constitution of Government.

Johnathan H. Pope is Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at
McMaster University.

McArthur’s text seeks to wrest Hume away from approaches that tend to characterize the philosopher as both a skeptic and a conservative. The author recognizes that elements of skepticism and conservatism certainly exist in Hume’s work, but argues they have been misapplied to his political theory. McArthur instead sees Hume as a positivist whose faith in the ability of a society to progress lay in its capacity for “civility” (as opposed to barbarism). Hume saw civility as a result of the benevolent humanity of a given society, which itself stemmed from—or was intertwined with—industry (productive work) and knowledge. Furthermore, the degree of “civilization” within a particular society was intimately tied to commerce and the pursuit of luxury, which were themselves indebted to an enlightened form of government and legal system. In addition, the ideal form of government could also mould its citizens to make them more civilized. McArthur thus establishes a causal chain or web apparent in Hume’s philosophy that allows us to read him as promoting a positive and achievable template for a “good society.”

One of the greatest strengths of McArthur’s writing is that it is eminently readable, which makes this text accessible to the specialist and non-specialist alike. The chapters detail Hume’s vision of the ideal society with a particular focus on the virtues of law and civilized government in contrast to the dangers of a “barbarous government,” and the author does a fine job demonstrating the validity of his argument. However, the relative brevity of the text is somewhat problematic. McArthur notes in his conclusion that he has attempted to clear away misconceptions about Hume in order to pave the way for new perspectives. However, at just over 140 pages of text, David Hume’s Political Theory often feels like an introduction to a much larger work that expands on the political, economic, and social implications of this revivified approach to Hume. Nevertheless, this is a lucid and engaging work that should delight readers interested Hume’s theory of law, government, and social progress.