1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910455346303321

Autore

Zaretsky Robert <1955->

Titolo

The philosophers' quarrel [[electronic resource] ] : Rousseau, Hume, and the limits of human understanding / / Robert Zaretsky, John T. Scott

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven [Conn.], : Yale University Press, c2009

ISBN

1-282-35162-1

0-300-15624-3

9786612351624

1-282-08876-9

9786612088766

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (264 p.)

Classificazione

08.24

Altri autori (Persone)

ScottJohn T. <1963->

Disciplina

192

Soggetti

Enlightenment

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-238) and index.

Nota di contenuto

An enlightenment quarrel -- The wild philosopher -- The Great Scot -- The Lord of Ferney -- Le Bon David -- A stone's throw from Paris -- First impressions -- A public spectacle -- Poses and impostures -- Hume, Judge of Le Bon David -- An enlightenment tragedy -- So great a noise -- How philosophers die.

Sommario/riassunto

The rise and spectacular fall of the friendship between the two great philosophers of the eighteenth century, barely six months after they first met, reverberated on both sides of the Channel. As the relationship between Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume unraveled, a volley of rancorous letters was fired off, then quickly published and devoured by aristocrats, intellectuals, and common readers alike. Everyone took sides in this momentous dispute between the greatest of Enlightenment thinkers.In this lively and revealing book, Robert Zaretsky and John T. Scott explore the unfolding rift between Rousseau and Hume. The authors are particularly fascinated by the connection between the thinkers' lives and thought, especially the way that the failure of each to understand the other-and himself-illuminates the limits of human understanding. In addition, they situate



the philosophers' quarrel in the social, political, and intellectual milieu that informed their actions, as well as the actions of the other participants in the dispute, such as James Boswell, Adam Smith, and Voltaire. By examining the conflict through the prism of each philosopher's contribution to Western thought, Zaretsky and Scott reveal the implications for the two men as individuals and philosophers as well as for the contemporary world.