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'This book is original in its perspective on Hume, partly because it sees Hume as a literary man eager to make a successful career through the exercise of skepticism and impartiality over a wide range of topics. It is a well-thought-out biography which is as good as or better than anything written on Hume's thought. It is well written and makes good sense of what Hume should be remembered for.' Roger Emerson, Emeritus Professor, University of Western Ontario 'This is quite simply the first serious intellectual biography of David Hume, and as such it will be indispensable reading for all students of his work. Harris has absorbed all that is now known of the details of Hume's life and of his reading, and deploys this knowledge to offer powerful, consistently intelligent readings of the whole range of Hume's works.' John Robertson, University of Cambridge 'Harris' magnificent intellectual biography of Hume sweeps away stereotypes of this major philosophical thinker that have accumulated over the past 250 years. It is a 'must-read' for Hume scholars, and for anyone who seeks to understand what it meant to write about history, politics, economics and religion - as well as epistemology and morals - from a philosophical point of view during the Enlightenment.' John P. Wright, Central Michigan University 'A superbly researched and beautifully written biography which paints a nuanced and compelling portrait of a Hume we can all believe in. A classic in the making.' Nicholas Phillipson, University of Edinburgh 'A lucid, well-organised and readable narrative, carefully informed by nuanced historical-intellectual scholarship.' Times Higher Education 'A book which seems sure to revolutionise our views of one of the greatest Scots.' The Herald 'Guided by Harris we can now see a figure more human and more engaging, whose ideas developed and flexed over time. Harris's meticulous anatomising of this figure is a major achievement in Hume studies and in studies of the Enlightenment more generally.' David Womersley, Standpoint

Advance praise: 'This book is original in its perspective on Hume, partly because it sees Hume as a literary man eager to make a successful career through the exercise of skepticism and impartiality over a wide range of topics. It is a well-thought-out biography which is as good as or better than anything written on Hume's thought. It is well written and makes good sense of what Hume should be remembered for.' Roger Emerson, Emeritus Professor, University of Western Ontario Advance praise: 'This is quite simply the first serious intellectual biography of David Hume, and as such it will be indispensable reading for all students of his work. Harris has absorbed all that is now known of the details of Hume's life and of his reading, and deploys this knowledge to offer powerful, consistently intelligent readings of the whole range of Hume's works.' John Robertson, University of Cambridge Advance praise: 'Harris' magnificent intellectual biography of Hume sweeps away stereotypes of this major philosophical thinker that have accumulated over the past 250 years. It is a 'must-read' for Hume scholars, and for anyone who seeks to understand what it meant to write about history, politics, economics and religion - as well as epistemology and morals - from a philosophical point of view during the Enlightenment.' John P. Wright, Central Michigan University Advance praise: 'A superbly researched and beautifully written biography which paints a nuanced and compelling portrait of a Hume we can all believe in. A classic in the making.' Nicholas Phillipson, University of Edinburgh

Author Information

James A. Harris is Professor in the History of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He is the author of Of Liberty and Necessity: The Free Will Debate in Eighteenth-Century British Philosophy (2005) and of articles on Hume, Hutcheson, Reid, Beattie, Priestley, and various themes in eighteenth-century British philosophy. He is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of British Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century (2013) and the coeditor with Aaron Garrett of Scottish Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century: Volume One (2015).

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