David Hume. The Sceptical Conservative

This book stresses the importance of returning to David Hume’s political thought, focusing on his ideas about the origin of government and political obedience, and his vision of the ideals of liberty, property, political stability, and moderation, all of which represent a precious source of inspiration for the development of political conservatism. Spartaco Pupo outlines the principal counter-revolutionary features that characterise Hume’s conservatism: political realism; mistrust of sudden and violent innovations; scepticism toward abstractions; opposition to rationalist arrogance; respect for custom and institutional continuity; the need for the preservation of stability; rejection of ideological rhetoric, sectarianism, and dogmatism; constant denial of intellectual subsidies; and the defence of the national interest. In so doing, Pupo argues that Hume’s ‘sceptical’ and ‘secular’ version of conservatism – the first to appear on the political scene of modernity – differs significantly from the Anglo-American conservatism that was to arise a few decades after his death, in the wake of Edmund Burke’s writings.

Vede qui la luce il primo lavoro monografico in lingua inglese sul conservatorismo politico scettico di David Hume. Attraverso l'analisi approfondita di tutti gli scritti politici del filosofo scozzese, anche di quelli "minori" e disseminati in diverse raccolte di saggi, pamphlet e satire, spesso sfuggite alla critica storiografica, si dimostra che il conservatorismo politico dell'autore scozzese fu il primo a comparire sulla scena culturale e politica della modernità britannica seppure in una versione "scettica" e "laica" che si differenziava nettamente da quella tradizionalista e metafisica affermatasi nell'area angloamericana, qualche decennio dopo la sua morte, nel solco del pensiero di Edmund Burke.