David Hume against the contractualists of his time

Abstract

This paper puts forward an interpretation of Hume's work which suggests a new means of refuting contractualism. This interpretation differs from the 'official' refutation, in that it is based on a concept of artifice which is significantly different from the concept of artifice propounded by the contractualists. This difference is not generally noticed in traditional commentary on Humean political philosophy when it deals with the refutation of contractualism.

Keywords

• David Hume
• Contratualismo
• Refutação ao Contratualismo
• Filosofia Política