On David Hume's Theory Of Political Obligations

The Scottish Philosopher David Hume(1711-1776) is famous for his empirical scepticism, his academic interests ranging from Philosophy, History, Politics to Economics. Yet, despite the fact that his achievements in Philosophy were widely recognized, his political thoughts were scarcely noticed in the two centuries after his death, among which the most ignored was his observations on political obligations.Hume's theory of political obligations was, to a great extent, shadowed by his prominent critique of the notions of contract and consent. Yet. by close examination, we can find that such critique was not intended to demolish the contract theory at its moral implications but to repudiate its purpose as a means of justification for government legitimacy on a prior basis. From the point of human nature, Hume thought that political obligations were the results of the appeals of interest and the effects of custom or habit. He adopted empirical method to justify people's political obligations to the government. Although Hume preserved for the ruled the rights to resist the ruler in extraordinary emergencies, he insisted that people had obligations to obey the government in the common course of events. Therefore, Hume's main concern on political obligations were directed to the design of the government. Hume raised the famous rascal supposition. These had profound influence on the formulation of the Constitution of the USA.Hume's theory of political obligations bear some traits of both contract theory and Untitarianism, yet is differentiated from them. Its most important legacy is a logical framework for philosophical analysis of moral issues. We may safely say that there is no fundamental paradox between Hume's philosophy and political thoughts.