This book focuses on revisiting Hume’s political philosophy through traditional utilitarianism. Chen criticizes the contemporary approaches of marginalizing utilitarianism in interpreting Hume. Instead, he argues that we should understand Hume in the context of conventionalism in order to fully grasp his thought.

David Hume’s political philosophy is heavily influenced by various philosophers, especially Thomas Hobbes and Francis Hutcherson. Because of this, we tend to see him as either a conventionalist contractarian, or an empiricist of the Scottish Enlightenment. However, Chen asserts the claim that both perspectives, when employed individually in analysis, are inadequate in contemporary Hume studies. Especially in the aspect of modern utilitarianism, many nuances are overlooked in considering Hume as either one thing or the other. This results in an imbalanced interpretation of his political philosophy and therefore, a limited analysis of his thought.

This book thus focuses on revisiting Hume’s political philosophy through traditional utilitarianism. Chen criticizes the contemporary approaches of marginalizing utilitarianism in interpreting Hume. Instead, he argues that we should understand Hume in the context of conventionalism in order to fully grasp his thought.