Essays on Hume, Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment - Paperback

by Christopher J. Berry (Author)

This collection of essays by Christopher J. Berry spans several decades and multiple shifts across Scottish Enlightenment, Hume and Smith studies. It brings together classic essays - some of which are difficult to find - with 3 new pieces, which cumulatively constitute a distinct interpretation. Clustered around the themes of sociability, the Humean science of man and the Smithian engagement with commerce and morality, these collected works will be of considerable value to those working in political philosophy, the history of ideas and the history of economic and social theory. Also included is a substantial introduction which, alongside Berry's personal intellectual history, provides a commentary on the development of the study of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Back Jacket

'Chris Berry's hybrid conceptual inquiries into the political theory of the Scottish Enlightenment are utterly distinctive. Though skeptical of a distinctive "Berry-view", nobody else writes about these topics as he has done for a generation, and reading these essays newly arranged together gives a singularly enlightening sense of both his intellectual evolution and the transformation of his field of study since the 1960s.' Duncan Kelly, University of Cambridge A selection of essays by a renowned scholar on Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and themes This collection of essays by Christopher J. Berry spans several decades and signals multiple shifts across Scottish Enlightenment thinking, Hume and Smith studies. It brings together a range of essays - some of which are difficult to find - along with three new pieces, all of which cumulatively constitute a distinct interpretation. Also included is a substantial introduction which, alongside Berry's personal intellectual history, provides a commentary on the development of the study of the Scottish Enlightenment. Clustered around the themes of sociability, the Humean science of man and the Smithian engagement with commerce and morality, these collected works will be of considerable value to those working in political philosophy, the history of ideas and the history of economic and social theory. Christopher J. Berry is Professor Emeritus of Political Theory and Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. Cover image: A map of North Britain or Scotland, Emanuel Bowen, 1769 (c) Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1501-9 Barcode

Author Biography

Chris Berry is Professor Emeritus of Political Theory at the University of Glasgow, which he joined from 1970, from the LSE where he completed his doctorate. He is best known for his work on the Scottish Enlightenment and on the idea of luxury. He has given invited keynote lectures on these themes in China, Japan, Chile, the US and in Europe. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.