ABSTRACT
In what sense or senses may we consider the Treatise to be a foundation for Hume’s ‘economic’ ideas worked upon only a few years later? Schatz, writing in 1902 and however dated in other respects, makes a significant general point about Hume’s economics and the Treatise : ‘C’est sa philosophie qui fait de Hume un économiste … Ses Discours politiques viennent seulement après que cette évolution s’est produite et après qu’une notable partie, peut-ètre la plus importante, de son oeuvre économique, a déjà été élucidée et exposée dans son oeuvre philosophique’ (Schatz, 1902 , 5). This is in stark contrast with Schumpeter’s later judgment (see Chapter 2). Relevant passages in the Treatise have been worked over, of course, by political theorists but I have not seen a close analysis nor an economics interpretation of all of the passages to be reviewed.
