Hume's Constitutionalism and the Identity of Constitutional Democracy

Manzer, Robert A.

doi:10.2307/2082604

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Hence, the proper principle of power is identified with the original constitution of government . We should not associate this idea with rigid rules of written constitution (Mazner, 1996) . The original constitution is something prior to a social institution and valid law .…”

Section: The Distribution Of Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Power and a Political Change in David Hume’s Poltical Theory

Perlikowski¹

2019

siip

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In this paper I would like to present an interpretation of David Hume’s political theory. Therefore, a method of investigation can be recognized as hermeneutical one. Main threads which I would like to emphasize are: concept of stability, distribution of power, role of an opinion in political dimension and a conservative attitude toward a change. I claim that important lesson for political science can be taken from his theory. Generally speaking, this lesson consists in refusing the so-called political regime fetishism and focusing on the relevant issues of social stability. These issues are strictly determined by the opinions, hence the proper subject-matter of political science is identified with them. As one of the conclusions I propose a thesis that politics is, and ought only to be slave of opinions, what is an allusion to a famous sentence from A Treatise of Human Nature that the reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.

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Section: The Distribution Of Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Power and a Political Change in David Hume’s Poltical Theory

Perlikowski¹

2019

siip

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“…A number of recent studies deny that Hume is such a paleo-conservative(Danford 1990;Manzer 1996). They do not examine all the reasons for Hume's rejection of this position, nor do they develop the deep similarities between Hume's position and postmodernity9 It is noteworthy that no Hume scholar takes bearings from the "mixed kind of life" passage which this article sees as the central concept of Hume's political science.…”

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confidence: 92%

Between Rationalism and Postmodernism: Hume's Political Science of our “Mixed Kind of Life”

Yenor

2002

Political Research Quarterly

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Many recent studies of David Hume emphasize his criticism of Enlightenment rationalism, but these studies risk making Hume into a paleoconservative advocate of local attachment. This article suggests that Humes political science can best be seen as advocating a middle position between Enlightenment rationalism and postmodern relativism in its Rortyan and paleo-conservative manifestations. In his criticism of rationalism, Hume concedes much to postmodern views on foundations, history, and subjectivity Hume, however, still defends the possibility of philosophic detachment and therefore political science as against postmodern theories. Hume's criticism of Enlightenment rationalism permit him to affirm important truths about the human condition: that ours is a “mixed kind of life.” Based on this understanding of our mixed condition, Hume argues that the modern world is the home of the virtues most attuned to our complex and mixed nature.

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The Rhetoric of Rebellion in Hume's Constitutional Thought

Merrill¹

2005

Rev Pol

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In hisHistory of England, David Hume suggests that the doctrine of resistance should be concealed from the populace. But this suggestion in the very public location of theHistoryhas the effect of revealing this doctrine as much as concealing it. How should we understand this perplexing rhetorical strategy? Hume's paradoxical rhetoric is a symptom of the problem that the right of rebellion poses for every political society. On the one hand, the right of rebellion undeniably exists; on the other, no regime can recognize that right fully. The problem of rebellion thus reveals the simultaneous necessity and limitations of law. Hume's playful, transparent rhetoric is intended to compel us to reflect upon the deeper tension between liberty and authority in every political society and to furnish us with an example of how that tension might be prudently and honestly handled.At a pivotal moment in theHistory of England, Hume writes: “If ever, on any occasion, it were laudable to hide truth from the populace, it must be confessed, that the doctrine of resistance affords such an example; and that all speculative reasoners ought to observe, with regard to this principle, the same cautious silence which the laws, in every species of government, have ever prescribed to themselves.” On its face, this is a recommendation that the “doctrine of resistance,” perhaps the most important principle of modern liberalism, be kept a secret, hidden away from the people at large.

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Hume's Constitutionalism and the Identity of Constitutional Democracy

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Distribution of Power and a Political Change in David Hume’s Poltical Theory

Distribution of Power and a Political Change in David Hume’s Poltical Theory

Between Rationalism and Postmodernism: Hume's Political Science of our “Mixed Kind of Life”

The Rhetoric of Rebellion in Hume's Constitutional Thought

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