St. Augustine's Press
In 1756 a volume of Hue's essays entitled Five Dissertations
was printed and ready for distribution. The essays included "The
Natural History of Religion," "Of the Passions," "Of
Tragedy," "Of Suicide," and "Of the Immortality of
the Soul." The latter two essays made direct attacks on common religious
doctrines by defending a person's moral right to commit suicide and by
criticizing the idea of life after death. Early copies were passed around,
and someone of influence threatened to prosecute Hume's publisher if the
book was distributed as is. The printed copies of Five Dissertations
were then physically altered with a new essay, "Of the Standard
of Taste" inserted in place of the two removed essays. Hume also
took this opportunity to alter two particularly offending paragraphs in
the Natural History. The essays were then bound with the new title
Four Dissertations and distributed in Jan. 1757.
The essays in Four Dissertations stand together as a unified whole,
showcasing his psychology of the passions and demonstrating its application
to both religion and aesthetics.
The edition also includes Hume's extended Dedication, a passionate endorsement
of intellectual and artistic freedom, which has been out of print since
the original publication in 1757.
The essays on suicide and the immortality of the soul, long separated
from the other essays, are here finally put back, as intended by Hume.
Included are "Two Letters on Suicide" from Rousseau's Eloisa.
Four Dissertations
and Essays on Suicide
and the
Immortality of the Soul
Introduction of Four Dissertations by
John Immerwahr.
Introduction of Essays on Suicide and the
Immortality of the Soul by John Valdimir Price.
Preface by James Feiser.
390 pages, paperback, 1757 edition of
Four Dissertations; 1783 edition of Essays on
Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul.
ISBN: 1-890318-57-4
$25.00