学术资讯｜政治哲学工作坊第七十八讲：休谟对党派冲突的马基雅维利式分析

Political Philosophy Workshop (78th)

Organizer

Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai)

Sun Yat-sen University

Topic

Hume’s Machiavellian Analysis of Partisan Conflict

Speaker

John T. SCOTT, Professor

Department of Political Science,

 University of California, Davis

Moderator

Jun-Hyeok KWAK, Professor

Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), 

Sun Yat-sen University

Time

10:00-12:00, June 18th, 2026

VooV

827-539-494

ABSTRACT

In his Essays Hume includes a pair of essays on political parties: “Of Parties in General” and “Of the Parties of Great Britain.”  Curiously, he begins the first of these essays with a passage that recalls Machiavelli’s Discourse on Livy, specifically I.10 on founders and destroyers of religions and states.  Following Hume’s cue, I argue that his analysis of parties is inspired by Machiavelli, and in particular his argument concerning “parties of principle,” which he states are a peculiarly modern form of party and which strongly resembles religious sects.  This analysis also explains why the essay which follows the two essays is “Of Superstition and Enthusiasm.” I also draw on Hume’s discussion of parties and sects in his History of England as well as his explicit reference to Machiavelli on Christianity in the “Natural History of Religion.”

政治哲学工作坊第（七十八）讲

主办

中山大学哲学系（珠海）

主题

休谟对党派冲突的马基雅维利式分析

主讲

John T. SCOTT

加利福尼亚大学戴维斯分校政治学系，教授

主持

Jun-Hyeok KWAK（郭峻赫）

中山大学哲学系（珠海），教授

时间

2026年6月18日

10:00-12:00

地点

腾讯会议

827-539-494

摘要

休谟的《论文集》中包含了两篇关于政党的文章，分别为《论党派概况》和《论英国的政党》。耐人寻味的是，休谟在第一篇文章开头的论述令人联想到马基雅维利的《论李维》，尤其是其中第一卷第十章关于宗教与国家的建立者及其破坏者的论述。沿着休谟所暗示的方向，我主张他对党派的分析，尤其是他有关“原则型政党”的论断，受到了马基雅维利的启发。休谟认为，“原则型政党”不仅是一种独具现代特色的政党形式，而且与宗教派系极为相似。这解释了为何《论文集》中紧随这两篇文章之后的文章是《论迷信与狂热》。此外，我还参考了休谟在《英国史》中关于政党与派系的论述，以及他在《宗教的自然历史》中对马基雅维利关于基督教讨论的明确引用。

来源｜哲珠新媒体

文稿｜杜陈

海报｜姚元琦

编辑｜姚元琦

初审｜韩　珩

审核｜卢　毅

审核发布｜屈琼斐