Review of Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind, A Philosopher's Economist: Hume and the Rise of Capitalism, Chicago IL, University of Chicago Press, 316 p., e-book

Abstract

It is no exaggeration to consider David Hume as one of the guiding lights of Enlightenment philosophy – one of the so-called canonical authors that must be read and understood by anyone who aspires to learn the ways of the love of wisdom. His contributions to the fields of metaphysics and epistemology and of moral and political philosophy are keenly discussed even to this day and many authors see Hume as anticipating important research directions in contemporary human sciences, especially in moral psychology (Haidt 2012). This view of Hume contrasts sharply with his perceived role in the development of economics, where he is clearly overshadowed by his younger friend, Adam Smith, who is credited as the main driving force behind the emergence of economics as a science during the Age of Enlightenment. While Hume is not entirely ignored by scholars of economics, his economic ideas have not had the impact of his philosophical endeavors.