Abstract
This essay explores the motivations that may lie behind Hume’s autobiographical essay “My Own Life,” written just months before his death in 1776. It compares Hume’s end-of-life assessment—what the author calls “an extraordinary literary disappearing act”—with earlier autobiographical remarks of his and places the essay in the larger context of Hume’s account of the task of history-writing in general, showing how Hume wrestled with the problem of the inherent interestedness involved in the judging of one’s own life.
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Notes
- 1.
See John P. Wright (2003) “Dr. George Cheyne, Chevalier Ramsay, and Hume’s Letter to a Physician.” Hume Studies. 29: 1, 125–141.
- 2.
Richard Sher (2006) The Enlightenment and the Book: Scottish Authors and Their Publishers in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 55.
- 3.
Ibid. See 55–59 for a discussion of the role of Strahan’s violation of Hume’s instructions in the construction of the image of Hume as author.
- 4.
J. Y. T. Greig (ed.) (1932) The Letters of David Hume. Oxford: Oxford University Press, v. I, 13.
- 5.
David Hume, “My Own Life” in Essays Moral, Political, and Literary. E. F. Miller (ed.). Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1985, xxxiii. Hence EMPL.
- 6.
D. Hume (1778) The History of England. Liberty Fund: Liberty Classics, 1983. v. I, 403.
References
Greig JYT (ed) (1932) The letters of David Hume. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hume D (1778) The history of England. Liberty Fund: Liberty Classics, 1983. v. I
Hume D (1985) My own life. In: Miller EF (ed) Essays moral, political, and literary. Liberty Press, Indianapolis
Sher R (2006) The enlightenment and the book: Scottish authors and their publishers in eighteenth-century Britain, Ireland, and America. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Wright JP (2003) Dr. George Cheyne, Chevalier Ramsay, and Hume’s letter to a physician. Hume Stud 29(1):125–141
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Garrett, A. (2015). Hume’s Own Life. In: Speight, A. (eds) Narrative, Philosophy and Life. Boston Studies in Philosophy, Religion and Public Life, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9349-0_13
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