Hume's Enlightenment Tract
The Unity and Purpose of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
Stephen Buckle
Reviews and Awards
Review from previous edition Hume's Enlightenment Tract is a masterpiece in the history of philosophy. Buckle is not only fully in command of the text he is studying, but of the context both ancient and modern. He also brings into his discussions some of the best scholarship of recent years in early modern philosophy. The book is written in a provocative and stimulating way and, whether one agrees or disagrees with its main contentions, one is sure to come away from reading it highly motivated to go back to Hume's own book and reconsider it in the light of Hume's widest philosophical concerns. - John P. Wright, Australasian Journal of Philosophy
Buckle's work is undoubtedly an important addition to the recent growth in scholarly writing on the Enquiry ... the only single-author work to offer both a critical overview of the Enquiry, a systematic general interpretation, and a section-by-section commentary on its contents... He succeeds in the important task of establishing the Enquiry as an independently significant philosophical work, central to the interpretation of Hume's thinking as a whole, and his book should help ensure that the work remains at the forefront of the new critical thinking about Hume's epistemology. - Paul Stanistreet, Journal of Scottish Philosophy