ABSTRACT
The Humean challenge with which Gauthier believes the knave can rest her case is that it be shown that the moral duties recommended "are also in the true interest of each individual". From the non-knave's different point of view, with his different psychology, Gauthier's prudence and true interest dictate continued abhorrence of secret dishonesty and other forms of knavery. Gauthier writes that the sensible knave's message is that human society, which depends upon dispositions to justice, fidelity and allegiance, "lacks any moral foundation. Artifices presuppose nature, and David Hume's account of the artificial virtues presupposes that he has an account of human nature and of the natural social virtues. To separate the account of justice from that embedding framework, as Gauthier does, is indeed to undermine its foundations. For Hume, prudence is a virtue, but some forms of it are troublesome and vicious.
