Presentations

This study elucidates the congruence between David Hume’s and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s perspectives on human nature. Rousseau, credited with introducing the notion of 'perfectibility’, challenges the fixed conception of human nature, emphasising history and culture’s role in shaping society. This aspect, coupled with Rousseau’s paradoxical assertions in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men, contrasts with Hume’s focus on universal principles and his endorsement of commercial society. However, significant convergence emerges when examining Hume’s references to humans as an ‘inventive species’ and his characterisation of justice as an artificial virtue in A Treatise of Human Nature. Both thinkers, though influenced by Bernard Mandeville, extend beyond his ideas by acknowledging humanity’s inherent potential and the role of cultural diversity. At the same time, they consider human institutions as artificial constructs. Although in their early works they were unlikely to have influenced each other, this convergence led to their assessment as Epicureans, prompting Scottish thinkers to view their theories as subversive.

E. C. Mossner, Hume’s biographer, asserts that the portraits of Hume and Rousseau painted by Allan Ramsay were hung in Hume’s parlour until the philosopher’s death. Regrettably, Mossner did not provide specific source citations, and many subsequent scholarly works have uncritically echoed Mossner’s claims without conducting independent verification. This study aims to trace the origin of Mossner’s assertion to George Chalmers’s unpublished notes, presently archived in the David Laing Collection at the Edinburgh University Library. Notably, Chalmers documented a brief account regarding Hume’s parlour witnessed by David Callander, who was a nephew of Michael Ramsay of Mungale, an intimate friend of Hume. This affiliation lends considerable credence to Callander’s testimony, notwithstanding potential inaccuracies in other facets of his knowledge about Hume’s works. Furthermore, this study investigates the other two portraits mentioned by Callander as adorning Hume’s parlour and explores early-nineteenth-century commentaries on Hume and Rousseau’s portraits, which were eventually bequeathed and displayed in a room belonging to Baron Hume, the nephew of the Scottish philosopher and historian.