Rousseau and Hume: Contrasting Views of Liberty

This is a Reading List based upon a Liberty Fund Conference on “Contrasting Views of Liberty in Hume and Rousseau.”

Contrasting Views of Liberty in Hume and Rousseau

Topic

The contrast between David Hume and Jean Jacques Rousseau on the nature of liberty is one of most enduring aspects of the eighteenth century. How can two thinkers who seem to cherish liberty and a free society have such different views of liberty?

Guide to the Readings

Editions used:

See also in the Online Library of Liberty:

For additional reading see:

Session I: Progress and Liberty in Rousseau

The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Session II: Progress and Liberty in Hume

David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary

Session III: Liberty, the Social Contract, and Consent

The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary

Session IV: Political Institutions and Liberty

The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary

Session V: Religion and Free Government

The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

David Hume, The Natural History of Religion

David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary

Session VI: Moral Judgment and Responsibility

David Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals