Written in the highly polished Augustan prose style of the period, this is a fine selection of essays from the pen of the great Scottish philosopher, historian and economist, David Hume. The essays range from aesthetics, commerce, history and ethics, which include such pieces as "The Epicurean", "The Stoic" and "The Sceptic" (Hume's own credo) all which are rather curiously positioned and excellently written guides to living. "Of the Immortality of the Soul" and "Of Suicide", two of Hume's most controversial essays touching on theological topics, are also included in this volume. Both succeeded, with their bold, original arguments, in outraging the British clergy, which helps us to understand why Hume decided to have them published posthumously.

This comparatively short book consists of extremely well-selected essays by the great Scottish philosopher and historian, on everything from public credit to delicacy of taste. Also included are the different classes of philosphers, including the class Hume falls under, The Sceptic (Hume's sp.). There is also an exceedingly interesting essay on the populousness of the world in ancient times. Apparently, the accepted notion at Hume's time was that there were hordes of people in ancient times and that our race has been dwindling ever since. Hume, on the other hand, proposes the radical notion that just the opposite is the case, and sets out to prove it quite handily.-Overall, the best introduction to one of my favorite writers that I've yet to read.

I wish I could give a whole galaxy of stars to this book instead of only five! This book is a perfect bedtime story for a child or for an adult. The book is brimming with gentle, drowsy imagery and you feel softly drawn into the dreamy world of a warm night with moonlit pastures and peaceful, slumbering creatures. The art is EXQUISITE! We are beguiled with starlight and moonbeams, cascading magnolia petals, misty valleys, moonshadows and softly glowing embers in the fireplace. The sleeping farm and the little boy who watches the peaceful night descend complete this enchanting treasure.

I have personally met Stephen Buckle. He is currently my Philosophy lecturer at Australian Catholic University. The combination of reading this book as well as attending his stimulating classes has given me insight into Pure Intelligence. Which is what Stephen has. Pure. Intelligence. A lovely man too, very worldly and a pleasure to know.

In recent years there has been an extended debate about Enlightenment thought. Though many scholars have concluded that there were several "Enlightenments," some continue to make generalizations about the Enlightenment and some speak about "the Enlightenment agenda." After discussing the cult of the deathbed scene in eighteenth?century Britain and France, the author looks at three currents of Enlightenment thought implicit in the deathbed "projects" of David Hume, Samuel Johnson, and Jean Paul Marat. Although Hume and Johnson hold profoundly different views of religion, their political thinking has much in common. Their reformist thought differs radically from what might be called the transformist thought of Marat, who hoped the French would become disinterested citizens whose civil religion was patriotism.
The book also looks at the response of James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, and Edward Gibbon to the deathbed projects of Hume and Johnson, and it discusses how their political thought differs from Johnson's and Hume's. It also considers the complex relations between reformist and transformist thought in Britain during the last three decades of the century, showing how the views of the two reformist groups and of such transformist writers as Richard Price, Joseph Priestley, and Thomas Paine were affected by a number of political events, from the Wilkes crisis to the French Revolution. Though the book focuses on AngloScottish Enlightenment thought, it often refers to the French Enlightenment, and the chapter on Marat looks at the connection between transformist thought in Britain and France.
The author argues that Enlightenment thought was more varied and?in its reformist currents?less hostile to tradition than many observers have allowed. Enlightenment thought was less a cluster of ideas than a debate about a number of questions, especially the following: how to contain religious and secular fanaticism (or what was called enthusiasm); what are the effects of luxury; and what is the nature of the passions. There was, as J. G. A. Pocock says, "a family of Enlightenments," and "there is room for the recognition of family quarrels..."
Why look at deathbed scenes to chart the currents of Enlightenment thought? Because an interest in deathbed scenes was widespread in eighteenth?century Britain and France. The final days of Hume stirred up a controversy that lasted for at least a decade and the final days of Johnson also attracted a great deal of attention, but Marat's death had the greatest impact of the three. His assassination gave impetus to the Jacobins' attempt to eliminate the influence of the church and greatly expand the influence of the state. Marat's project to transform France failed, but so did the projects of Hume and Johnson. Hume argued that religious belief was based on the foolish fear of death, yet religion remained a strong force in Britain. Johnson hoped for a return to God-fearing religion, yet the educated classes continued to prefer a more benign brand of Christianity in which God's benevolence was stressed far more than his judgment.

Though The Title is a bit stodgy, the read is excellent. It is filled with precise history ,concise observation, and thoughtful analysis.The subject of the "heroic" deathbed scene,on canvas,on stage,in poetry and literature is both enthralling and thought provoking. The treatment of the Age of Enlightenment, when viewed through the prism of the deaths/ deathbed scenes of Hume , Johnson and Marat, is wonderful. Brain Candy!