Infidel and the Professor : David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought

Infidel and the Professor : David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
ISBN: 9780691192284
Publication Date: 24 May 2019

The story of the greatest of all philosophical friendships'and how it influenced modern thought ;David Hume is arguably the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as "the Great Infidel for his religious skepticism and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith, now hailed as the founding father of capitalism, was a revered professor of moral philosophy. Remarkably, Hume and Smith were best friends, sharing what Dennis Rasmussen calls the greatest of all philosophical friendships. The Infidel and the Professor tells the fascinating story of the close relationship between these towering Enlightenment thinkers'and how it influenced their world-changing ideas. It shows that Hume contributed more to economics'and Smith contributed more to philosophy'than is generally recognized. The result is a compelling account of a great friendship that had great consequences for modern thought. ;The book follows Hume and Smith's relationship from their first meeting in 1749 until Hume's death in 1776. It describes how they commented on each other's writings, supported each other's careers and literary ambitions, and advised each other on personal matters, most notably after Hume's quarrel with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Members of a vibrant intellectual scene in Enlightenment Scotland, Hume and Smith made many of the same friends (and enemies), joined the same clubs, and were interested in many of the same subjects well beyond philosophy and economics-from psychology and history to politics and Britain's conflict with the American colonies. The book reveals that Smith's private religious views were considerably closer to Hume's public ones than is usually believed. It also shows that Hume...