Was David Hume a racist? Interpreting Hume's infamous footnote (Part I)

Abstract

This is the first part of a two‐part article; the second part will appear in the October 2022 issue of Economic Affairs. In his essay ‘Of National Characters’, David Hume added a now‐infamous footnote denigrating African civilisations and black people in general. Hume is widely recognised as a critic of bigotry, yet his footnote is the height of bigotry, creating a tension. I argue that Hume often wrote in an ambiguous and occasionally contradictory fashion to draw readers with opposing views into his work, yet his true beliefs were sometimes hard to discern. This article examines a number of oddities and inconsistencies in Hume's writing on race, including a striking non sequitur within the footnote.

Was David Hume a racist? Interpreting Hume's infamous footnote (Part II)

“…It is also very improbable that Hume had not heard of the accomplishments of some of the Amerindians. As we see from the above passages, they were well known in Hume's time, and they were even extensively discussed at the time of the Valladolid debates (see Asher, 2022, pp. 233–5).…”

“…Part I of this article, which appeared in the June 2022 issue of Economic Affairs (Asher, 2022), explores the literature on David Hume's footnote, the relevant context on the issues of race and slavery in Hume's time, and polygenism. Part II explores the essay in which the footnote on race appears (‘Of National Characters’) and Hume's anti‐slavery essay (‘Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations’), and examines the various contradictions that can be found in Hume's work regarding the exoteric sentiment in the footnote.…”

A response to Kendra Asher

“…Asher (2022, p. 228) discusses the letter. She acknowledges that Hume “did pass along a message [to Hertford] from Sir George Colebroke on the potential purchase” and Hume did so “without saying anything about the injustice of slavery”.…”

“…1 1 Part I of Kendra Asher's article is published in the June 2022 issue Economic Affairs (Asher, 2022), Part II in the present issue (pp. 478–500).…”