David Hume: Celebrating Connections (audio)

Nobel Prize laureate Professor Amartya Sen presents a lecture entitled David Hume and the Demands of Ethics. The Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University gave his lecture as part of the University’s celebration of philosopher David Hume’s 300th birthday. Professor Susan Manning chaired the event, which also featured Professor Emma Rothschild, Professor Barun De, Dr Viccy Coltman and Dr Michael Fry. Recorded on Monday July 18 2011.

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood presents, "David Hume and Civil Society". David Hume's thinking was radical and thorough. This was his strength, but also a source of ammunition to his enemies. He has been interpreted as being scathingly negative in all of his conclusions - whether about morality, religion or basic epistemology. The lecture will argue that Hume has much that is positive to teach us about all of these topics. However, the main focus will be upon the nature and foundations of Civil Society, including both ethical and social insights, and their relevance to contemporary talk of 'broken' or 'fractured' society. Stewart Sutherland taught philosophy in Bangor, Wales, Stirling, and King's College London, where he held the Chair of the History and Philosophy of Religion. He was subsequently Principal of King’s College, London, Vice Chancellor of the University of London, and Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. He is a fellow of the British Academy and Past-President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Recorded 25 October 2011 at the Playfair Library, Edinburgh. Audio version.

"Hume, Kant, and the Passion for Reason" by Professor Paul Guyer, was presented as part of the prestigious Edinburgh Philosophy lecture series, the Nature of Knowledge Lectures. Recorded Wednesday 14 December 2011 Audio version.

The importance of the Treatise and Hume's project for establishing a Science of Man for the Scottish Enlightenment has been overlooked. It is suggested that the response it elicited from the Scottish intellectual community played a decisive role in shaping Scottish ideas of history and moral philosophy. In fact, its publication was arguably the decisive event in turning Scotland's enlightenment into an event of global significance. Audio podcast recorded Friday 4 November 2011. Listen to podcast

Hume's contribution to modern economics is normally thought of in terms of his early statement of the quantity theory of money, and to a lesser extent his views on trade and development. At a methodological level the influence from his empiricism is commonly traced to the development of econometrics. But if we explore his philosophy more fully, we find a much richer set of ideas which can illuminate the way we approach issues in modern economics. Here therefore we explore Hume's theory of human nature and his theory of knowledge in order to understand how he viewed economic behaviour as inherently bound up in other aspects of life. Audio podcast recorded Friday 21 October 2011. Listen to podcast

David Hume's theory of justice led him to articulate and argue for a very influential theory of what has come to be called the "circumstances of justice" - those circumstances in which justice is both possible and necessary. John Rawls, among others, has been very influenced by Hume's account of the circumstances of justice, and it has received much critical discussion. In this paper, I develop a new objection to Hume's account: Hume's best reply to the standard objections to his theory leave him especially vulnerable to a new charge - that of being committed to an odious form of paternalism. Audio podcast, recorded Friday 28 October 2011. Listen to podcast

One of the most provocative and influential books of the last decade in the cognitive sciences has been Dan Wegner's 'the illusion of conscious will'. In his book Wegner extensively makes use of Hume's theory of causality to make his claim that conscious will is an illusion. In this lecture I will examine, whether Hume's theory really supports Wegner's conclusions. Audio podcast, recorded Friday 7 October 2011. Listen to podcast

This lecture will focus on three aspects of Hume's scepticism surrounding religious belief and practice: the challenge to the traditional arguments for the divine existence; the attack on the reliability of reports of miracles; and his account of the negative effects of institutional Christianity. The extent to which Hume's views animate contemporary forms of atheism will also be explored. Audio podcast, recorded Friday 30 September 2011. Listen to podcast