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News

News: Autumn 1993

Unpublished Hume Manuscript Sold

A recently-discovered manuscript by David Hume (often called the greatest British philosopher) was auctioned at Sotheby’s in July. The manuscript was estimated at £8,000-£10,000 but in the event surprised the auctioneers by selling for £36,700 to a London dealer.

The four handwritten pages may date from the 1730s, when Hume was in his twenties. In them Hume argues that you cannot show that God is benevolent except by looking at the world and seeing whether good predominates over evil. In the opening paragraph he says “Attempts to prove the moral Attributes from the natural, Benevolence from Intelligence, must appear vain, when we consider, that these Qualities are totally distinct & separate.

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