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    The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
    The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
    The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought

    Written by Dennis C. Rasmussen

    Narrated by Keith Sellon-Wright

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    The story of the greatest of all philosophical friendships-and how it influenced modern thought

    David Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as "the Great Infidel" for his skeptical religious views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy, and is now often hailed as the founding father of capitalism. Remarkably, the two were best friends for most of their adult lives, sharing what Dennis Rasmussen calls the greatest of all philosophical friendships. The Infidel and the Professor is the first book to tell the fascinating story of the friendship of these towering Enlightenment thinkers-and how it influenced their world-changing ideas.

    The book follows Hume and Smith's relationship from their first meeting in 1749 until Hume's death in 1776. It describes how they commented on each other's writings, supported each other's careers and literary ambitions, and advised each other on personal matters, most notably after Hume's quarrel with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Members of a vibrant intellectual scene in Enlightenment Scotland, Hume and Smith made many of the same friends (and enemies), joined the same clubs, and were interested in many of the same subjects well beyond philosophy and economics-from psychology and history to politics and Britain's conflict with the American colonies. The book reveals that Smith's private religious views were considerably closer to Hume's public ones than is usually believed. It also shows that Hume contributed more to economics-and Smith contributed more to philosophy-than is generally recognized.

    Vividly written, The Infidel and the Professor is a compelling account of a great friendship that had great consequences for modern thought.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 22, 2018
    ISBN9781977383600

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    Reviews for The Infidel and the Professor

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    • 4/5
      Interesting dual biography of two Scottish intellectual giants of the 18th century, Hume and Smith, concentrating on their long friendship. I would’ve enjoyed a little more about the contents of their books and perhaps a little less about fairly mundane biographical details. Learned a lot from the book anyway.
    • 4/5
      This account of the mutual affection and reciprocal influence between the great 18th Century Scottish philosophers David Hume and his junior by twelve years, Adam Smith, also serves as a good introduction to the theories of each of them. Their ideas, as a review of this book in the UK’s Prospect Magazine notes, formed the central intellectual engine of the Scottish Enlightenment.Each man was controversial at the time, although Smith was less so, probably because, as Rasmussen suggests, he was more cautious in expressing his religious skepticism. Both were concerned with the same issues however, even though Hume is primarily known today for his theories of epistemology (i.e., what factors shape our understanding of the world), and his calling into question a number of religious beliefs. Smith, the author of “The Wealth of Nations,” is considered to be “the poster child of capitalism.” At first glance, they might seem to be quite different, but in fact that is far from the case. Rasmussen delves into some of their ideas in depth, such as on the origins of morality. Both denied true morality came from any religious imperative. Hume was willing to threaten his standing in society by getting more specific, insisting that the “moral” behaviors advocated by religion were often contrary to human nature. Religion's prohibitions and admonitions promoted useless forms of self-denial, sacrifice, and intolerance. Their injunctions, he averred, which can offer “the strongest violence to [a person’s] natural inclinations” are complied with not out of reason [because in fact they are antithetical to reason] but out of fear of divine retribution. Rather than making people better human beings, such constraints or commands that go against nature promote misery, fraud, cruelty, and a great deal of hypocrisy. As Hume wrote in “The Natural History of Religion” (Section XIV):“. . . if he fast a day, or give himself a sound whipping, this has a direct reference, in his opinion, to the service of God. No other motive could engage him to such austerities. By these distinguished marks of devotion he has now acquired the divine favor; and may expect, in recompense, protection and safety in this world and eternal happiness in the next."But because of the unnaturalness of religious precepts about behavior and the tendency of human beings to "be human" anyway, "it is justly regarded as unsafe to draw any certain inference in favor of a man’s morals from the fervor or strictness of his religious exercises, even though he himself believe them sincere.”Hume’s negative views of religion, needless to say, did not make him popular among theists, nor for that matter, did his monumental History of England, which managed to offend political parties on both sides of the aisle. As he commented when he was dying, in his mordantly amusing style about the irony of his life:“Here am I, who have written on all sorts of subjects calculated to excite hostility, moral, political, and religious, and yet I have no enemies; except, indeed, all the Whigs, all the Tories, and all the Christians.”Rather than religion as the source of morality, they both considered the trait of sympathy - “a central feature of human nature,” as Hume wrote - to be its main determinant; it is the commonality of human feeling and what we think just or unjust with respect to our own lives that gives us ideas about what is right and wrong for people generally. Moreover, in a utilitarian sense, moral behavior simply makes our lives go better. That is, we don’t get arrested; people regard us favorably (which gives us pleasure) and do things for us; and the common good is advanced for the betterment of all. Religion, they both suggested, mainly serves as an enforcement mechanism for religiously-approved behaviors.Both men posited that the same impulse lay behind both science and religion - i.e., the desire to explain the world and allay anxiety over the inexplicable, bestowing order on the natural world. The two differed on several points, such as whether or not work per se constituted happiness. While they lauded the positive effects of capitalism and the progress it promoted, Smith was more critical of the downsides (ironically, since he was considered to be “the poster boy” of capitalism). He thought people were apt to work themselves to death for luxury items (encouraged by the incentive structure of the capitalist system) that would not necessarily make them happier; they always thought they needed more. Smith pointed to the shame that came with poverty or not having as much as others (insofar as capitalism defines success in terms of the accumulation of wealth). Material goods under capitalism, he observed, act as a signal conferring deference and approval. Thus, the rich, Smith noted, get far more attention and respect than the poor, whether deservedly so or not (and more often, they don’t deserve it, he added). [As Tevye the Milkman sang in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," if he were a rich man, villagers would ask him to decide important questions, "And it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you're rich, they think you really know!"]They also did not agree on whether there ought to be a state-sponsored religion - Hume said yes, and Smith said no, although their reasons were identical: each wanted to minimize the deleterious effects of religious fanaticism.Nevertheless, the two men were generally in concert with one another, and at all times, benefitted from their close friendship. While not all of their correspondence has been located (there are just 56 extant letters between them — almost three-quarters of them by Hume), the letters that have been found suggest they met with each other often, helped and supported one another, and felt warmly toward one another. Hume in particular was constantly imploring Smith to come see him and stay with him.Hume died on August 25, 1776 from abdominal cancer. (Smith outlived him by 14 years.) Hume wanted Smith to arrange for the posthumous publication of his work, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Smith, who had always been so careful to protect his own reputation, worried that the controversy over Hume’s irreligious ideas in the manuscript would ruin him by association. Hume was disappointed, but agreed instead to entrust his nephew with the project. And in fact, Smith was correct about its reception. James Boswell, for example, was offended by even the publishing of Hume’s “posthumous poison.” And when Smith, in writing, praised the skeptic Hume as a "virtuous man" after his death, Smith incurred much of the wrath he sought to avoid. (How can an apostate be "virtuous," Hume's detractors fumed.)As Hume was dying, the public was intensely focused on him, with crowds actually assembled outside his house: would he continue with his skepticism or try at the last minute to gain access to the Kingdom of Heaven and an afterlife? Would he be fearful, depraved, or remorseful? Hume was none of those things, and retained his skepticism and good spirits until the end. He tried to show through his example that this life was enough, and that it no more bothered him that he would not exist after his death than it bothered him that he did not exist before his life.Discussion: I hate to admit (even to myself) that I have never read Smith’s seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, so I was gratified to learn of the book’s main concepts through this story. I was also surprised at how many of his precepts and observations about capitalist societies remain not only relevant but right on point. The author spent a bit less time on Hume’s theories than on the public reaction to them, which in itself was interesting and noteworthy.The author also included observations about Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Genevan philosopher who had a large influence on American Founding Fathers, because of his interactions with Hume. I did not know about Rousseau’s bouts with psychosis, and felt sad that he lacked access to modern medications, which could have helped his productivity and quality of life.Overall, I learned a lot in this book, and found it quite enjoyable.Evaluation: Professor Rasmussen reveals the depth of influence David Hume had on Adam Smith, as well as the many beneficial aspects of their growing, deep friendship. The book isn’t that long, but serves as an excellent introduction to the thought of each man, both of whom have had an outsized influence on the way we think in the West today.
    • 5/5
      I had been curious about David Hume’s life for a long time but had not yet found a biography that appealed to me. I did not know of his relationship with Adam Smith, I had thought of Adam Smith as an intellect who dealt strictly with economic philosophy. This book brought these two great men of intellect in my mind’s eye. It very effectively told the story of two opposites, a gregarious extravert, David Hume with an introvert that wasn’t as engaging on a social front.The book was laid out chronologically, tracing both men’s lives as it evolved from when they first met until Hume’s passing and beyond, detailing every important aspect of their intertwined lives as loyal friends, effective critics, and sounding boards for each other’s philosophical ideas. The story traces the roots of their friendship as diligently as possible since Smith was an infrequent letter writer. The author, Rasmussen, had to piece together the historical narrative with bits of documentation other people’s surviving writing along with writing from their friends and peers, sometimes squeezing out details through tangential correspondences. Hume contributed mightily as he was a prolific letter writer, so his letters to others helped Rasmussen in this regard. It must have taken a tremendous amount of mental gymnastics and conjecturing for Rasmussen to write a compelling of a narrative as he did here. It was especially fascinating to follow the author along as he tried to reconstruct their debates and friendly thrust and parry on their significant works. The depth of the philosophical arguments and the nuances brought forth by the author was impressive. Even as I was trying to read this with a skeptical eye, the author never overreached his narrative and his conjectures as to the original meaning of the authors were well supported and logical in his conclusions. It is fascinating to essentially reconstruct the debates that these men had over their most intimate thoughts and works. The book was not strictly a restatement of their thoughts however, the author did a remarkable job discussing the event of the day and of their lives and how the current events of the day affected their thoughts and their lives. There was a good amount of discussion regarding each of the men’s employment, as tutors to the wealthy and secretaries to politically well-connected diplomats and other government officials. They both eventually settled down to bucolic lives working as professors in their universities, Hume in Edinburgh and Smith in Glasgow. While the discussion of Hume’s famously anti-religious arguments, The Infidel in the book title referred to Hume, versus Smith’s perceived acquiescence to the religious orthodoxy was very revealing in this recounting: the author states that even though Smith was less overt with his questions regarding the religious orthodoxy of the time – it would be difficult to be as overt as Hume in his opposition to the church – he apparently had more points of agreements with Hume than differences, even though he took pains to ameliorated it to avoid being reviled by those other men of letters at the time. Hume had no such compunctions, indeed, he seemed to delight in tweaking the religious in his irreligiosity It cost him dearly as he was denied employment as professor early on. What is fascinating is the description of how they two friends helped each other in sharpening and developing their arguments represented by their written works. The author patiently and painstakingly traced the discussions between the two friends as they composed their philosophical works over their lifetimes. It is a fascinating intellectual history recounted for our sake. The arguments were recreated through citations and expert interpretations, it presented the points of agreements and disagreements closely and in an unadorned fashion. Even though the explanations were sometimes complex, as all philosophical explanations can be, it was never boring. The discussion of Hume’s work wound its way from his less than enthusiastically received A Treatise of Human Nature to the two enquiries: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals through his Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, and to his most famous work, although it was a work of history rather than philosophy: The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688.The narrative of their friendship continued until Hume passed and proceeded beyond that as Smith acted as more or less Hume’s philosophical and literary executor, as he defended his friends’ beliefs after his passing. He did not allow the gossip of the day to distort or misrepresent Hume’s staunch irreligiosity. He made sure that Hume’s brief, but final autobiography, David Hume: My Life, be published posthumously as Hume had wanted. That was a testament to a true friendship, representing a friend as he wanted to be represented. The story presented in this book also did not shortchange Smith. The author took pains to present the entirety of Smith’s works and did not try to sequester his thoughts to his most famous work, The Wealth of Nations, as many others have previously tried to do. The author did well in tracing the thread of Smith’s thought and described how The Theory of Moral Sentiment made The Wealth of Nation possible.Indeed, this book was a revelation to someone like me, a dilettante in philosophy and history, it served as an excellent introduction to the genre and it made my intellectual life so much better.