ABSTRACT
Rotwein ( 1955 , 1976), challenging the notion that there is no connection, from the mid-1950s onwards, points to the link between Hume’s view of the ‘science of human nature’ and his exercises in economic thought, particularly the psychology of motivation. Whereas Hume’s general stance is analytical, his point of view is that of the balanced, prudent and essentially liberal, policy-maker, a role in which the political and the economic come together. A full scholarship with respect to the evolution of the essays would have to take into account, as Box does, the fact that they were written, edited and re-edited with the passage of time (Box, 1990 , 112; see also Mankin, 2005 ).
