Wertz - Hume and the Historiography of Science.pdf

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Hume and the Historiography of ScienceAuthor(s): S. K. WertzReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Jul., 1993), pp. 411-436Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2710021 .

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Hume ndtheHistoriographyfScience

S. K. Wertz

Theperiodnwhich he eople fChristendomere he owest unknignorance,ndconsequentlyndisordersfevery ind,may ustly efixed t the leventhentury,bout he ge ofWilliam heConqueror;andfromhat ra, he unof science eginningoreascend,hrew utmany leams f ight,which receded hefullmorning hen etterswere evivednthefifteenthentury.(David Hume,History fEngland, I, 508)Inthis ssay shall xamine avid Hume'shistoriographicalategoryfCharacterwheneverrefero his oncept ith heword,t hall ecapitalized)and ts pplicationo mportantiguresnd nstitutionsnthehistoryf ciencethat ppearnhisHistory fEngland.Thisaspect f Hume'sthoughtas notbeengivenmuch ttention,t eastnot nreferenceoHume' History.ts sixvolumeswerepublishedetween 754and1762, timewhenwefirsteethe

emergencef thehistoryfscience, ndHumeplayed partnnarratinghatbeginningventhought has gone largely nnoticed. romthe overfortyCharactersn heHistory e find nes uch s Francis acon, heRoyal ociety,theFrenchAcademy fScience,Robert oyle,WilliamHarvey,ndIsaacNewton.Humeevidentlyntended is Characterso be adoptedby futurehistorians.' y "Character" ume means n account f eminentersons rgroupswhich ereduces otypesssociatedwith heir rofessionrcontribu-tion in this case science),their tationn life,and their elation o thegovernmentrreign. haractersormn ntegralart fhishistoricalarrative' DavidHume, A Characterf Sir RobertWalpole" (1742), nEssays: Moral,Political,andLiterary,d. EugeneF. Miller rev.ed.; Indianapolis, 987), 575,whereHume maginesthat ... I shallflatter yself ith hepleasing magination,hat hefollowing haracter illbe adopted y future istorians."urthereferenceso theEssays, s well as theworks istedbelow, re parentheticalith age numbersfter itations.

411Copyright993byJournalf theHistoryf deas, nx.


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412 S. K. Wertzby upplyingheneeded eriodizationesides he sual nnualhronology.Conjoinedothese riefntellectualiographiesndnarrativeescriptionsftheEuropeancientificroupsre numerousther istoricaleferencesosciencewhich icelyllustrateume adorninghefacts."2onsequently,when hesepisodesre iewedogether,emayegitimatelylaim hat umewas ne f he irstulturalistoriansf ciencend pecificallyhatehad ninterestnaccountingor hegrowthrdevelopmentfwhatwenow all"science"nGreat ritain.Hume sed he ermscience"ntwo ommonenses:1) a broad seasin the hrasearts nd ciences" henwespeak fcolleges ousinghosedisciplines,r s n he itle fHume's ssay,Of heRise nd rogressf heArts nd ciences." ny ody fknowledgerganizedyprinciplesscalleda science; ornstance,he aw would ualifynderense 1). This s theAristotelianonceptionf cience;nd2)a narrowsewhichssynonymouswith aturalhilosophyr xperimentalcience. hese enses f science"reusually istinguishableromheontext.t s nterestingonote hat ume,ikeVoltaire,id use "science" ccasionallyo meannatural rexperimentalphilosophy..a practice hich idnot ecome ommonntilhe arly ine-teenthentury.Atthe utsetetmedeclare hat hererefour undamentalssuesnthehistoriographyf ciencehat umeddressesn neway r nother.henatureof cientifichanges the irst. ume iews otablehangen cience sbothgradualnd uddenradical)hiftsnperspectivend heory.sevidence,heprefatoryassagendicateshat edidnot onceivef he rogressf cienceinone teadypward ovementf efinementnour nderstandingfnature.Rather,isideaofprogressnvolvesetbacks ndreascents.rogressssometimesetwith ecline,ndthen ecline s oftenollowedy rise nachievement.uch viewsatypicalor he nlightenmentormost nlight-enmenthinkers,.g.,Voltaire,eld o gradualheoryf cientificrogress,ending,ttheirresentime rwherehey ished o nd heirarrative,ithNewton.ume idnot hinkfNewtonsthe rowningchievementfnatur-al experimental)hilosophy.ontraryo hecholarshipn hisubject,arguethatWilliamarvey1578-1657)sHume'paradigmf chievementnnaturalorexperimentalhilosophy,ndthe mphasisnmy rgumentelow s onexperimental.The econdssuenvolveshe ortraituref utstandingiguresr ventsnthe istoryf cience.Whatsthe ointf uch ortraits?uch uestionseadto thirdssuewhichertainso he lacementf cience ith viewpointrhistoricalontext. ume sopposedothe iewknowns internalism)hatsciences an solatable,utonomousystemnd hat he reatcientificen-

2 D. Hume,TheHistory fEngland rom he nvasion fJulius aesar to TheRevolutionof 1688, d.William . Todd Indianapolis,983), II, 82. This snot negativehrase;Humethoughthis legitimatend primaryunctionfhistory,.e.,writtenistory.


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 413iuses are thebearers f thissystem.3rom such a perspectivecience sabstractedromtshistoricalettingndhandledobjectively"r nan solatedfashion s ifnothingrom heoutside ffectedt. n TheHistory fEnglandespecially, umepositionedciencewithin cultural-socialrocess rhistoryand appreciatedheirmutualnteraction.The ast ssue s Hume's mbivalencen the riginf cience. s it arly rrelativelyate? He thoughttwas the atter ntilhe narrated ritain's arlyhistory...then e changed ismind. hetwoviewswerenever econciledntheHistory. art of theexplanations thathe changedhis discussionfromunrestrictedo restrictednational) onsiderations.Auguste omte 1798-1857) s usually onsidered yhistoriansobe thefirsthinkerocall for syntheticistoryf science nwhich he mphasissplacedon theunity f scienceand itsinterplay ith ther arts f social,political,nd culturalife.4My general ontentions thatHumemadethe allbefore omte.A setof newquestionss asked boutHume'swritingsromcontextreviouslyot ssociatedwith im.What lace, or ume, oes cienceoccupynhistoryngeneral?What s Hume's overall icturefthehistoryfscience nEngland?What s Hume'sgeneral heorybout hishistoryf sci-ence, ndhowdoes t orrespondohis heoryfhistory?owdo Hume' viewsarise rom,nddepart rom,he iews f arlier hinkers?ndhowdoesheviewhistoricalhange nscience?The evolutionf thehistoriographyf sciencebeginshere.SIt swellknownmongHume cholars hat ume mployedharactersa historiographicalonceptnhisHistory,6ut he arietyf hat se s still otfully ppreciated. ostscholars xamine is use of t with heBritish egalfiguresikeQueenElizabeth rfamous eligious nd social ndividualsikeMartin utherndJoan fArc.Below we shall ncounterisuse ofCharacterwith acon,Boyle,Harvey, ewton,ndothers. shall lso appraisehem yplacing hemwithin heir ontextndthenwithinhebroader iewofthehis-tory fscience.

I See Helge Kragh, n ntroductiono theHistoriographyfScience, r.Jean undskjaer-Nielsen Cambridge, 987), 18ff,nd ch. 9 on anachronical istoryf science.. theviewthatthepast shouldbe studiednthe ight f theknowledgewe have today, lso known s pres-entism.

4 Kragh, ntroduction,1 f.See, for xample, cholarswhohave made considerabledvances n answeringhesequestions:Michael Barfoot, Hume and the Culture f Science in theEarly EighteenthCentury,"n Studies n the Philosophy f the Scottish nlightenment,d. M. A. Stewart(Oxford, 990), 151-90;RogerL. Emerson, Sciences andtheOrigins nd Concerns f theScottish nlightenment,"istory fScience, 6 (1988), 333-66, lso inStewart's tudies, 1-36;James . Force's Hume's nterestnNewton ndScience,"Hume tudies, 2 1987),166-216. 6 For example, .Y. T. Greig, avid Hume London,1931),ch. XX, esp.270ff.


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414 S. K. WertzFrancis acon

Perhapshemostwellknown haracterf scientistnHume' HistorysFrancis acon, lthoughheres somedebaten the iteratures to whethereis deservingfthat itle. inceHume ompares acon to GalileoandmakesreferenceoKepler, shall iveBacon'sCharacternfull.t lso givesus a goodrepresentationfthat istoriographicaloncept ywhatt ncludes. s Humenarrates,Thegreat loryf iteraturen his slandsic]duringhe eignfJames[I],wasLordBacon.Most fhisperformancesere omposednLatin;though e possessedneitherheeleganceofthat, or ofhisnativetongue.fwe considerhevarietyf talents isplayedy thisman, sa public peaker, man fbusiness, wit, courtier,companion,nauthor, philosopher,e s ustly he bject fgreatdmiration.fweconsider immerelys anauthorndphilosopher,he ightnwhichweviewhim t present,houghery stimable,e wasyet nferiorohiscontemporaryalilaeo,perhapsven o Kepler.Baconpointedut ta distance heroad o true hilosophy: alilaeoboth ointedt outtoothers,ndmadehimselfonsiderabledvancesn t.TheEnglishmanwas gnorantfgeometry:he lorentineevived hat cience,xcelledin t, ndwasthe irsthat ppliedt, ogetherith xperiment,onaturalphilosophy.heformerejected, ith hemostpositive isdain, hesystemfCopernicus:he atter ortifiedt withnewproofs, erivedboth rom eason nd he enses. acon'sstyles stiffndrigid: iswit,thoughtften rilliant,s also often nnaturalndfarfetched;ndheseemsto be theoriginal f thosepointed imilesand long-spunallegories hich o much istinguishhe nglishuthors: alilaeo s alively ndagreeable,houghomewhat prolixwriter.ut taly, otunitedn ny ingle overnment,ndperhaps,atiated ith hatiteraryglorywhichthaspossessed othn ancient ndmodem imes, astoomuch eglectedhe enown hichthasacquired ygiving irthosogreat man. hatnationalpirit hich revailsmong he nglish, ndwhich ormsheirreat appiness,s the ausewhy hey estow n alltheir minent riters,ndon Bacon among he est,uchpraises ndacclamationss mayoftenppearpartial nd excessive.He died n1626, n the66thyear fhisage. V, 153-54)There re hree onsequentialointsobe made oncerninghis haracter.First, umeholds hat n orderoassesshistoricallyBritish cientist'slacein thehistoryfscience, nemust ave aninternationalontext. ational rregional onsiderationsill notdofor hehistoryfscience, lthough umefallsvictimo this atter iew n the arlier eriods fthehistoryfEngland.Second,Hume' statementhat acon"rejected, ith hemost ositive isdain,


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 415the ystemfCopernicus"mplieshat isrejectionfCopernicanismastheresult fan mperiousndunreasonableias. Others ho greedwithHume'sassessmentre KarlPopper,who thoughthatBacon "sneered t thosewhodenied he elf-evidentruthhathe un ndthe tars otatedround he arth,whichwasobviously t rest,"7ndAnthony uinton.'n a more ecent tudy,PeterUrbach orrectshisdistorted iewofBaconbyshowing hatBaconquestionedmpiricallyhe arth'smotion ndconcludedentatively.9rbachconcludeshat Baconnever neeredttheheliocentricheory,or idhecometo,oradvance, is opinionn thehigh-handednd ntemperateanner hichis insinuated"131).A thirdoint oncerningume'sobservationhatGalileo fortifiedt thesystem f Copernicus]withnewproofs, erived othfrom eason nd thesenses" emphasis dded) shows us thatHume thoughthat cience doesadvance ometimesy uddeneaps. pointhis ut ocorrectn account ivenbyBernard ohen n RevolutionnScience,whounfortunatelyestrictsisdiscussion o a solitary assagefromHume's Treatise, o his account sinadequatenmany espects.0 heBaconCharactert east uggestshat umethought hatwhat Copernicus nd Galileo had done was more "thananimprovement"Cohen's phrase) n the previous ystem f the world orastronomy. hetherrnot Humeperceivedhis ituationn thehistoryfscience sa revolutionsnot ltogetherlear romheBaconCharacter.New"forHume ouldbe "revolutionary,"ut heformer as not rdinarilyssoci-atedwith heattererm. he atterbviously asa politicalerm or imCohenpointshis ut, 21),becausehe selectedt mong therhingsndiscussingheGloriousRevolutionf1688. HereHumewas ustconsciously ollowinghepracticefpreviousistoriansn allinghe 688 vent revolution.esides heword revolution,"e sometimes sed "reformation,""1lthough e did usetheword revolution"nce nconnection ith cience ndiscussing mighty

7Karl Popper, he Open Society nd Its Enemies4th d.; London, 962), I, 16.8 Anthonyuinton, rancisBacon Oxford, 980),79: "he Bacon]disdained opernicusand ignoredKepler nd Galileo."9PeterUrbach, rancisBacon's Philosophy f Science LaSalle, Ill., 1987), 131-32.'0 I. Bernard ohen,Revolutionn Science Cambridge, ass., 1985), 519-21. Cohen'sdiscussion irstppeared n "The Eighteenthentury rigins f theConceptof ScientificRevolution," HI, 37 (1976), 257-88." D. Hume,ATreatise fHumanNature, d.L. A. Selby-Bigge,orr. . H.Nidditch2nded.; Oxford, 978), xvii,412. See the History,II, 409, foruse of both reformation"nd"revolution";lso History,V, 8: "These declarationsf her ntentionQueen Elizabeth's],concurringith recedinguspicions,made hebishops oreseewith ertaintyrevolutionnreligion"; ppendixII, "Butthe hange f manners as the hief ause of the ecret evolu-tionof government,nd subverted he power of the barons" IV, 385), and (IV, 384),"Whatevermay be commonly magined, rom heauthorityf Lord Bacon, and thatof

Harrington,nd ater uthors,he aws of HenryVII. contributedery ittle owardshegreatrevolution, hichhappened bout hisperiod n theEnglish onstitution."


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416 S. K. Wertzinnovations ade nreligion 1453]Thus a general evolution as made nhuman ffairshroughouthis art f heworld ndmen raduallyttainedhatsituation,ith egardo .. science"III, 81).However his assage uggestsyitswordinghat ume tillmeans improvement"r implynotable hange."'2Cohen laims hat he erm revolution"as notused n the ense f a radicaldeparturer fundamentalhange ntil fter 789with heFrench evolution,andHume'susage usually onformso this bservation.But there resome nterestingxamples nHume's writings hich redecidedlymbiguous. nepassage uggests political ense naddition o tsold repetitious,yclicalmeaning:

Philosophyan only ccount or few f hegreaterndmore ensibleevents f this mental]war;butmust eave all the maller nd moredelicate evolutions,sdependentnprinciplesoofine ndminute orher omprehension.Treatise, 38; emphasesdded)In the entence efore his neHume peaks f he strugglefpassion ndreason" hat iversifiesnd ntensifiesuman ife.However, ume seems ohavepossessed he trongoncept frevolution.nthe ssay OfEloquence"heopenswith hese hought-provokingentences:Those,who consider heperiods nd revolutionsfhumankind, srepresentednhistory,reentertainedith spectacle ull fpleasureandvariety,nd ee,withurprize,hemanners,ustoms,ndopinionsof he ame pecies usceptiblef uch rodigioushangesndifferentperiodsf ime.tmay, owever,eobserved,hatn ivilhistory,hereis found much reater niformityhan n thehistoryf earningndscience....97)"Revolutions"sprobablysed nthepoliticalense, ndHume ontrastscivilhistory ith ntellectualistory.. where he atterssubjectomore bruptchanges. ume' explanationor his s thatearningnd cience redependentupon education nd example 98), whereas ivil historys governed y thecommonassions97).This haracterizationpens p nterpretiveossibilitieswith ontemporaryistoriographyf science.12Cf. V, 545), "From hememorable evolutions, hich assed n England uring hisperiod 1649],we maynaturallyeduce he ame useful esson,whichCharleshimself,n hislater ears, nferred;hat t s dangerous or rinces,venfrom he appearance f necessity,oassumemore uthority,han he aws have allowed them."n theopening aragraph f theHistoryHume talks about "the sudden,violent, nd unprepared evolutions,ncident oBarbarians"I, 3); also I, 24, 26, 39; and "Of National haracters"examples f moral ausesas opposed ophysical nes),"Of thiskind re, henature fgovernment,herevolutionsf

public ffairs,heplenty r penuryn which hepeople ive,the ituation f thenationwithregard o its neighbours,nd such ike circumstances"198; emphasis dded).


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 417In anycaseHumehas themain ctorsn thedramatic hronologyfthehistoryf cience nplaceandhas also brieflyssessed heirmportance.sheremarked,Ifwe consider im Bacon]merelys anauthor ndphilosopher

[scientist],he ightnwhichwe viewhim tpresent,houghery stimable,ewas yetinferior o his contemporaryalilaeo, perhaps ven to Kepler"(emphasis dded).Who spossiblyncludednHume' "we" shall e discussedbelow. So for cience n theearly eventeenthentury, ume's list so farincludes: opernicus, alileo,Kepler,ndBacon.Andpresentismppears obe oneof he iewswhich ume dheres o n he istoricalarrationf cience.Robert oyle

Concerning oyleHumereportshatBoyle mprovedhe neumaticngine,nventedyOtto onGuericke,andwastherebynabled omake everal ew nd uriousxperimentsonthe ir, s well s on other odies:hischemistrysmuch dmiredythosewho re cquainted ith hat rt: ishydrostaticsontaingreatermixturefreasoningnd nvention ith xperimenthanny ther fhisworks;buthisreasonings stillremote romhat oldness ndtemerityhich ad edastrayomany hilosophers.oylewas a greatpartisanfthemechanicalhilosophy;theory hich ydiscoveringsomeofthe ecrets fnature,nd llowing s to maginehe est,s soagreeableo thenaturalanityndcuriosityfmen.He died n1691,aged65. (VI, 541)ThisCharacterppearst he nd fHume' discussionf he eignfJamesII. As a common ractice ith im,Hume loses a given eignwith he tatusof earning uringhat articularge,moving romniformityodiversityfhuman ature. his s onereasonwhy earningnd science reusually ele-gated oAppendicesntheHistory.arlierHumehadremarked,Amidst hethick loudofbigotrynd gnorance, hich verspreadhenation, uringhecommonwealthndprotectorship,herewere few edate hilosophers,ho,in he etirementfOxford,ultivatedheireason, nd stablishedonferencesfor hemutual ommunicationftheir iscoveriesnphysics ndgeometry"(VI, 540).Humementionshat fterheRestorationhesemen rocuredatentsandeventuallyormed heRoyal Society f London n 1660.He condemnsCharlesI forupportingis ourtiersndmistressesatherhan he ciences utneverthelessalls him a "loverof the sciences,particularlyhemistryndmechanics." umecontrastshis ituation ith heone nFrancewhere:... theFrench cademyof sciencewas directed, ncouraged ndsupportedythe overeign,and] here rose nEngland omemen fsuperiorenuiswhoweremore hanufficientocast hebalance, nd


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418 S. K. Wertzwho drew n themselvesnd on their ative ountryheregardndattentionf Europe.BesidesWilkins,Wren,Wallis, minentmathe-maticians, ooke, n ccurate bserverymicroscopes,nd ydenham,the restorerf truephysic medicine]; here lourisheduring hisperiod Boyleanda Newton;menwhotrodwith autious,ndthere-fore hemore ecureteps,he nly oadwhicheads o rue hilosophy.(VI, 541)

Again, nternationalontexts neededfor a trueor accurate ontrast ndcomparison.oseph gassi s one ofthe ew cholarswhohasplacedHume nthe context f thehistoriographyf science."3 gassinotesHume on thisaccount:

Humehad lready riticizedacon,but nly othe xtentf aying hatBaconwas inferioroGalileo since heformernlypointedheway,while he atter oth ointedheway ndtravelledn t.Humedidnotrefer o Bacon's errors,ndthus reated immore enientlyhanhetreated oyle,though emusthaveknown hat oyle'serrors erenegligible y omparison.ee Hume,HistoryfEngland, ppendixo"ReignofKing James." (V, 153-54)

I amnot urehowAgassi rrivedthiscomparativeudgmenthat ume reat-edBaconmore enientlyhan oyle. ncomparingustthe woCharacters,tseems to me the converse..that he treatedBoyle more leniently hanBacon.. which s inkeepingwithwhatHumedoeswith aconelsewhere.14It hould e recalledn his onnectionhatnthe istoryf cience hereretwomethodsommonlymployednthepost-Butterfieldra ca. 1950):thediachronic,hich races hehistoryf one dea or a clusterf deas, nd thesynchronic,hich tudiesn ndividualcientiste.g.,Newton) ndthe ffairsof his day.15Hume practices nlythesynchronic ethod, nd that n an

1' Joseph gassi,Towards n Historiographyf Science,HistoryndTheory, eiheft(1963), 88n.1' For nstance n "Of Miracles," art I, Hume criticizes acon's method f reasoningconcerninghenovel r extraordinarynnature,.e., to record verything,r as Westfall ut t,

"unguided bservation"The Constructionf Modem Science: Mechanisms nd Mechanics[Cambridge, 977], 114); see Hume's An InquiryConcerning umanUnderstanding,d.CharlesW. Hendel New York, 1955), sectionX on miracles, 39. On the atter ortion fBacon's Character, hereHumeviews he ontemporarydulation fBacon as a reflectionfthe English national pirit" nd some of the praise bestoweduponhimas "partial ndexcessive" see RichardYeo, "An Idol of the Market-Place: aconianism n NineteenthCentury ritain," istory f Science, 3 (1985), 251-98, sp. 259.'5EdwardHarrison,Whigs, rigs nd Historiansf Science" commentary),ature, 29(1987), 213-14; "WhigHistory"nMacmillan ictionary ftheHistory fScience, d.W. F.Bynum, . J. Browne, nd Roy Porter London, 1981), 445-46; Herbert utterfield,TheHistorianndtheHistory f Science," ulletin ftheBritish ociety ortheHistory fScience,1 (1950), 49-57, nd Butterfield'stherworks. or an example f thediachronicmethod,ee


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 419embryonictage.His creation f a placefor he ciences nd scientistsnhisHistorymay e seen spart fhis ecularizationndbroadeningf he copeofBritishhistory. ritishhistories rior o Hume's contained o historicalaccountsf cience nd cientists,rat eastnot o the xtent hat ume' did.So much or he ontext;etus nowturno theBoylepassage tself.In the peningentence ume ites,nconjunctionith oyle, heGermanexperimentalist,ttovon Guericke1602-86),who is mostfamous orhisexperimentaltudies fairpressure...forHume, ignificantnough o ncludein hisdiscussion.16How Hume knew f vonGuericke s notknown, uthisexperiments erewidelydiscussedduring ume'sera,andit was perhapsthroughources t theAdvocates' ibrarysee note 1) that e knew fthem.Morespecifically,emayhave earned f these xperimentsrom oltaire.17Buttherereother ossible ources,oo.

Hume'sAcquaintance ith cienceAtthe geof ixteen oung avid hadalready istinguishedimselfnhiscourse f tudyttheUniversityfEdinburgh.mong hoseworks eprobab-ly tudied as Newton's rincipia,r t eastknew f ts ontent."8t his ime(1727) ColinMaclaurin1698-1746)waslecturingnmathematicsndNew-ton's rincipia.Maclaurin ad akenp he hairn1725whichs the earHumelefttheUniversity,or perhapsnot until1726," Mossnerconjectures.19Maclaurin'wife, nne, ublished isbook,AnAccountf ir saacNewton'sPhilosophicaliscoveriesLondon, 748),posthumously;nd twasundoubt-

HoraceFreeland udson, heEighth ay ofCreation: heMakers ftheRevolutionnBiology(NewYork,1979).Foranexample fthe ynchronicethodeeR. S. Westfall, ever tRest:A Biography f saac NewtonCambridge,980).

16Onthis xperimentee A. P. Usher, HistoryfMechanicalnventionsBoston, 959[1929]),340-41.17 TheLetters fDavidHume, d. J.Y. T. Greig Oxford, 932), , 226.HumeadmiredVoltaire's heAgeofLouisXIV(1751), ndhemayhave vengottenhe dea to nclude cienceinhishistoricalarrativerom oltaireince he atter evoted wo hort hapters31 and34)tothe ubject ndwrotextensivelybout t nnumerous,arious ther ritings,.g.,Elementsof he hilosophyfNewton1738/41),lthough ume xplicitlyenies uch connection:InthisCountry,hey e.g., HoraceWalpole]call mehisPupil, ndthat hatmyHistorys anImitationfhisSiecle de LouisXIV. ThisOpinion latterserymuchmyVanity; ut heTruthis, thatmyHistory asplan'd,& in a greatmeasureompos'd, eforeheAppearance fthatagreeableWork" ibid.).18In Hume'sPhilosophical evelopmentOxford, 973)JamesNoxon rgues hatHumeprobably ever eadNewton's rincipia nd hat e got ts deas econdhand68ff),nd odoesPeterJones, ume'sSentiments:heir iceronianndFrenchContextEdinburgh,982), h.1.There s evidence othe ontrarysee Barfoot'snvestigationnnote ); furthermore,umedid read Nicolas de Malezieu's Elements e Geometrie1722) whilehe was in FrancecomposingheTreatise,o it s probable hathecouldunderstandhemathematicalarts f

Principiasee note21).19E. C. Mossner, heLife fDavidHume Edinburgh,954),49.


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420 S. K. Wertzedly productf those ectures hichHumemust aveheard r was at eastacquainted ith heirdeas.AnneMaclaurinwritesn her An Account ftheLife ndWritingsf heAuthor"hatAfterhis hemathematicallasses oonbecameverynumerous,here einggenerallypwards f anhundredounggentlementtendingis ecturesvery ear."20umewasprobablyot mongthoseyoung entlemensincehewas at theUniversityrom 723to1725or1726),buthe at eastpicked pthemathematicsna lessformaletting.fhereadMalezieu' Elements,21e couldhaveeasily ead ecture otes rom omeacquaintance howasone of those ortunateoung entlemenho attendedMaclaurin'sectures. hefirst ookof Maclaurin's ccount,ntitledOf theMethod f ProceedingnNatural hilosophy,nd the VariousSystems fPhilosophers,"ontainshaptersrom he ncient hilosophersown hroughDescartes's ollowersSpinoza ndLeibinz) nd ndingwith detailed iscus-sionofNewton's heoryfmotionhatMaclaurin alls RationalMechanics.Maclaurin's ccountfollows generally hronologicalrder, o that n arudimentaryense hisworkanbe viewed s ananalyticalistoryf cience ras expressingnternalism.nearlier ookwhich ouldhave nfluenced umehere lso sJoseph lanvill's lusUltra, r TheProgressndAdvancementfKnowledgeinceTheDays ofAristotle1668).22hisworkwaswidely ead nddiscussed uring ume'syouth. othof theseworksnonewayor anotherprobablynfluenced ume othinkbout cience nGreat ritain s a histori-calphenomenon.ume hows s that e sacquainted ith he ebate etweentheCartesianndNewtonianheories f naturenthe ssay, Of theRise andProgressf theArts nd Sciences":

What hecked heprogressftheCARTESIANphilosophy,o whichthe RENCHnation hewed uch strong ropensityowardshe ndoftheast entury,ut he pposition ade o tby he ther ations fEUROPE,who oondiscoveredheweak ides f hat hilosophy?heseverestcrutiny,hich EWTON'S theoryasundergone,roceedednotfromhis own countrymen,utfrom oreigners;nd ifit canovercomehe bstacles, hichtmeets tpresent1742] nallparts fEUROPE, [then]t willprobably o down triumphanto the atestposterity.121-22; mphasesdded)

20 Colin Maclaurin,AnAccount f Sir Isaac Newton'sPhilosophicalDiscoveries,facsimile fthefirstditionwith new ntroductionnd ndex fnames y L. L. Laudan TheSources f Science,No. 74; NewYork, 1968),v.21 See MarinaFrascaSpada,"SomeFeatures f Hume's ConceptionfSpace," Studiesin History nd Philosophy f Science, 1 (1990), esp. 382ff.22Joseph lanvill, lus Ultra, r TheProgress nd AdvancementfKnowledgeincethe

Days of Aristotle1668), a facsimile eproductionith n introductiony Jackson. Cope(Gainesville, la., 1958).


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 421WhenHumewrote his escriptionf the ontroversy,emayhaveforgottenabout rmaynothaveknown erkeley'sriticismsfNewtonsee note 2). Inaddition oCopernicus, alileo, Kepler,Bacon,vonGuericke, oyle,Des-cartes,ndNewton,Hume was awareofTychoBrahe 1546-1601)and hisimportanceo theCopernican evolutionnastronomy;nd n"Of NationalCharacters,"eremarks,AnENGLISHMAN willnaturallye supposed ohavemore nowledgehan DANE; thoughYCHO BRAHEwas a native fDENMARK" (198). In "The dea ofa Perfect ommonwealth"umemen-tions hristiaan uygens1629-95) sthenventor hodeterminedhe figureof a ship,whichs themost ommodious or ailing" E, 513).Theres also Hume'sfriend dam mith1723-90),whowrotehistories"ofsciencen the hronologicalense. nthe arly 740sSmithwrote heHis-tory fAstronomyndTheHistoryf heAncient hysics. sD. D. Raphael ndA. S. Skinneroint ut n their eneralntroduction,23umehadan nfluenceon theseworkswhich temmedrom heTreatise. ut t s alsoquitepossiblethat he nfluencean nthe ther irection,oo:Humeperhaps ot he dea ofwriting narrativeistory,otust chronologicalistory,rommith.nanyevent he dea of thehistoryf sciencewas clearlynthe irof Scotland ndFrance tthis ime, nd urely mith,Maclaurin, lanvill,ndVoltaire ll hadcontributednonewayor anothero Hume's nnovativedea.Hume' inclusion fBoyle'sCharacterelps s see that ume hampionedthe xperimentalciencesnthe ater eriods fBritish istory.oylewas themajoradvocate of experimentalism;n the late 1600s he had to defendexperimentalracticesrom obbes' criticismf hem ndof he nventionfthe irpump.24

Isaac NewtonNewton's uriousCharacter, hich mmediatelyollows hat fBoyle,reads s follows.InNewton his slandmayboastofhaving roducedhegreatestndrarest enuis hat verarosefor heornamentnd nstructionf thespecies.Cautiousnadmittingoprinciplesut uch s were oundedonexperimentpresumablyeferringo"hypotheseson ingo"], utresolute oadopt veryuchprinciple,owever eworunusual: rommodesty,gnorancef hissuperioritybove the est fmankind,ndthenceesscarefulo ccommodateis easoningo ommonpprehen-sions;more nxious omerit han oacquire ame;he was from hese23AdamSmith, ssayson Philosophical ubjects, d. W. P. D. WightmanndJ.C. Bryce(Indianapolis, 982), 11ff.24See Steven hapin ndSimon chaffer,eviathannd theAir-Pump: obbes, oyle,ndtheExperimentalife Princeton, 986).


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422 S. K. Wertzcauses ongunknownotheworld; uthisreputationt eastbroke utwith lusterwhich carcely nywriter,uring is own ifetime,adeverbeforettained.WhileNewton eemed o draw ff heveil fromsome of themysteriesf nature, e showedat the same timetheimperfectionsf themechanical hilosophy:nd therebyestoredheultimateecrets o that bscurity,n which heyverdidandeverwillremain. e died n1727, ged 85. (VI, 542)

By "the mperfectionsf themechanicalhilosophy" umeprobably ad nmind a) thehypothesizationf hidden runderlying echanisms,.g.,grav-ity,nexplaining otiony nvokingoccult" orces,sBoyle, oo,haddone,and (b) the necessity orGod to be presento periodicallywind"up theuniverseince t tends o rundown with n analogy oa clock).25 ume'sreading f Newton s "cautiousnadmittingoprinciplesutsuchas werefoundedn experiment"s a common neandprobablywes somethingoMaclaurin's ccount,r his ectures. ume'sallusion o Newton eing longunknown o theworld"probably efers o hispovertyromwhich dmundHalleyfrequentlyescued im.In"OftheMiddle tationfLife"Humemakes synopticudgmentboutGalileoandNewton hat houldnotgounnoticedna discussionf this ort:Werewe todistinguishheRanks fMenby heir enius ndCapacity,more han ytheir irtue ndUsefulnessothePublic, reat hiloso-phers scientists]ould ertainlyhallengehe irst ank, ndmust eplaced tthe opofhuman ind. o rares this haracter,hat erhapsthere as as yet een bovetwo ntheWorldwhocan aya ustClaimto t.At east,Galileo ndNewtoneem ome o far o xcel ll the est,that cannot dmit nyothernto he ameClass with hem.550)

HereHume ddsGalileoto thefirstank,whereasnHume'sopening emarkon Newton'sCharacter,ir saac is theonly ne admittedo this uperlativeclass,perhaps ecauseHume'sHistorys a national istory.WilliamHarvey

Outside fBoyle,WilliamHarveysperhapshemostnterestingharac-ter rom ur opical erspective:Harveys entitled o theglory fhavingmade,byreasoning lone,withoutnymixturef ccident,capital iscoverynone of hemostimportantranches f science.He hadalsothehappinessfestablish-25See theLeibniz-Clarkeorrespondence,d.H. G. AlexanderManchester,956),esp.

11 f, or heclassic debate n this atter equirement;ume,Dialogues Concerning aturalReligion, sp. Parts X and X, showshis familiarityith hisdebate.


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Hume ndtheHistoriographyfScience 423ing at oncehis theory nthemost olid andconvincingroofs; ndposterityas dded ittle o he rgumentsuggestedyhis ndustryndingenuity.is treatisefthe irculationftheblood s furthermbel-lishedbythatwarmthndspiritwhich o naturallyccompany hegenius f nvention.hisgreatmanwas much avoredyCharles .,who gave him he ibertyf using ll thedeer nthe oyal orests orperfectingisdiscoveriesnthe enerationf nimals.twasremarkedthat ophysiciannEurope,whohadreached ortyears fage,ever,to he nd fhis ife, dopted arvey's octrinef he irculationf heblood; ndthat ispracticenLondon iminishedxtremely,rom hereproach rawn ponhimbythat reat nd signal iscovery.o slowis theprogressftruthnevery cience, ven whennotopposedbyfactiousr uperstitiousrejudices. e died n1657, ged79. VI, 153-54)

Thispassage xhibitsworecurringhemesnHume' History: irst,eferenc-es to ndividuals ith egalpower ndtheirole nthe ise f science nGreatBritain,nthis asetoCharles; and econd, ume' anti-religiousias,whichis indirectlyxhibitedn his statementbout heprogressftruthndaboutsuperstitiousrejudices.he ociohistoricalacts iveHume chance odiscussbigotrynd prejudice gainst mportantcientists. umeused theHarveyCharacteromake commentnthenaturef hemedical rofessionf he ime(1650s).So ThomasKuhn ays: Nordoscientistsormallyimto nvent ewtheories,nd heyreoftenntolerantf hosenventedyothers."26hysiciansover ortynEuropewere nder henfluencefDescartes's heoryf heheartas a furnace ore hanHarvey's,whichxplainedhe unctionf heheart s apump.One ofthereasonswhy posterityas added ittle o theargumentssuggested yhis ndustrynd ngenuity"sthatmedicine eturnedoHarvey'sexplanationfter iving pDescartes's.DespiteCohen's assertionhatHume"givesnocluewhethere believesscienceadvancesby suddengreat eaps forward rby steady ndgradualprogress"521),Hume actually laims heformer,specially s seen n "OfEloquence"97).This s alsoappreciatedntheHarvey haracter,nwhich ecalls Harvey'stheory a capital discovery" nd adds thatthetheorysestablishedn "proofs." y "proof"Humemeans omethings establishedby ntuition,.e.,thatt s self-evidentndcertainDescartes's riteria),ndbysensual emonstrationas opposed o nstruction),.e., hat he irculationf hebloodcanbeself-administered.Hume's positioneems o mply hat here re some"revolutions"nthesense of suddengreat eaps,notonlyslow gradual hange.For him theseventeenthenturys probablyevolutionarynthis ense.But unlike therEnlightenmenthinkers,umedidnot hinkf cientifichange olely s slow

26Thomas . Kuhn,TheStructurefScientificevolutions2nd ed.; Chicago,1970),24.


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424 S. K. Wertzsteadyrogressr advancement,hichwastoculminatenNewton r therefinementfNewtonianhysics,s did he renchncyclopedists.oreover,as a historiane alsobelievednthe eclinef cience.n his ccountf heAnglo-SaxonovernmentndmannersI,160),Humeddsn n ppendixhat"... military espotism .. had sunkthegenuis ofmen, nd destroyed veryno-bleprinciplef cience sense1] and virtue.." (emphasisdded).However,Hume's xamplesomefromntiquityr themedievaleriodndnot hemodernra.Thus,whetherume houghthere as declinen the ciencesduring isage is anopenquestion. owever, passagen theDialoguesConcemingatural eligionuggestshat ethoughteclinenthe ciencesduringis gewasnot nly ossibleutikely:

Thosewho eason romhe ate riginf rtsnd ciences,houghheirinferenceants ot orce, ay erhapse refutedyconsiderationsderivedromhenaturef humanociety, hichs in continualrevolution,etweengnorancendknowledge,ibertyndslavery,richesndpoverty;o thatt s impossibleor s,from ur imitedexperience,oforetelithssurance hat ventsmay rmay ot eexpected.Part I; otherses f hewordnthis ense ollow.)As wehave eenHume oes se heword revolution"n n rchaicensemeaningepetition.bviouslycontinualevolution"s no "revolution"inCohen'sense) t ll.Also his se till as politicalontextndhasnot eenappliedo science xcept or tsbeginningith he bove entenceromhepassagenthe ialogue.TheHarveyharacters agoodnstancefHumeadorninghe acts"; orexample,This reatmanwasmuch avoredyCharles,"and embellishedby hat armthnd pirit hich onaturallyccompanyhe enuisf nven-tion."Anothernterestinghingbout hepassage s the tatementhichfollowst.Hume emarkshatThis ge ffordsreatmaterialsor istory;utdidnot, roduceny ccomplishedistorian."he tatementould,t eems,includeontextuallyhepassage nHarvey;nd t s equally lausiblehatsciences an instancefthe greatmaterialsorhistory,"ven houghhestatements a synopticudgment.o inreferringothe geas a whole, umedemonstrateshathiss soby he everalassagesn ciencenhis olumesnthe tuarts.TheDialogues assage n"revolution"n PartVI implieshe ollowingquery:s Hume n advocatefthe arly r lateoriginf science? romexamininghe irstew olumesf heHistoryt ppearshat ewas ommit-ted o he arly riginf cience iew, utatern he arrative,625, e eemsto hangeo heate riginf cience iew. etus ook tthe arly iew irst.


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Hume ndtheHistoriographyfScience 425EarlyBritishcience

Hume' treatmentf he ncientndmedieval eriods sually acks pecif-ic referenceso science,buthe does makea fewexplicit eferenceso thedevelopmentf science n ancient ritain.27ne good llustrationf this s inhis discussionfAlfred heGreat:Butthemost ffectualxpedient,mployed yAlfred or he ncour-agementf earning,ashisown xample.. that emight ore xactlymeasurehe ours, emade seofburningapersf qual ength, hichhe fixed n lanterns,n expedientuited o that ude ge,when hegeometryfdialling nd themechanismf clocks nd watchesweretotallynknown.I, 80)28

Referencesike the boveto the tatus f scientific nowledge uring ivenhistorical eriods re fairly umerous. elatedto the rise of mechanicalmeasurementsf imesHume' mentionf he ifferentalendars sedby heBritish nd Romanpriests nd that hesewerecomputedwiththe aid ofastronomicalonsiderationsof the coursesof the sun andmoon).29n hisdiscussion f KingAlfred, umecomments,Butwe shouldgivebut animperfectdeaofAlfred'smerit, ereweto onfineurnarrationohismilitaryexploits,ndwerenotmore articularnour ccount fhis nstitutionsor heexecution fustice,ndofhis eal for he ncouragementf rts nd ciences"(I, 75).Headds, Thosewho ast heir yeon the eneralevolutionsf ocietywillfind,hat,s almostll mprovementsf hehumanmind adreached ear-lyto theirtate fperfectionbout he geofAugustus,herewas a sensibledecline rom hat oint rperiod; ndman henceforthelapsed raduallyntoignorance nd barbarism"II, 519). As in his referenceo astronomicalconsiderations,umeprovideshe eaderwith n idea ofthe evelofmedicalscience tthe ime fEdwardVI (1500s).Henarrateshe ncidentf heKing's27Hume'sgeneral istoriographys one ofthe ecent ast whichR. G. Collingwood alls"illuminism") n which ee S. K. Wertz, Collingwood'sUnderstandingf Hume" paperread at the 19thHumeconference,niversityf Nantes, rance,July, 992).28HumementionsI, 79) thatAlfred ounded,epaired,ndendowedOxford niversity.Also Humeprovides s with ome dea about heriseofmechanicalmeasurementf time ymaking nother eferencemuch ater n the History: The author f thePresent tate ofEngland, ays, hatbout1577, ocketwatcheswere irst roughtnto ngland rom ermany.They rethoughto havebeen nventedtNuremberg"IV, 370).Cf. Steven . Mason, nhisA History f the ciences rev.ed.;New York,1962),109,whocites he ame nformation.29History,, 49. For his timeHumeknew great ealabout stronomy,ontraryo whatCohen laims; nd ntheTreatise e mentionedopernicusmore hanustonce: heCartesians,esp. Malebranche152-53), saac Barrow'sMathematical ectures 46), Malezieu 30), "thesatellitesfJupiter"342), and nthe ntroductione obviously lludes oNewton's rincipia

whenhe promiseso "renderll ourprincipless universals possible" xvii); ntheDialoguesHumediscussesCopernicus ndGalileo nsome detail Parts I and V).


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426 S. K. Wertzphysicians eingdismissed ecausetheyweremaking immore ll and theadmission f medicallygnorantoman o ake ver dward's are! III, 398).Of Julius gricola eremarks,

He [Agricola] ntroducedaws and civilitymong heBritons,aughtthem odesire ndraise ll the onveniencesf ife, econciledhem othe Roman anguage nd manners,nstructedhem n lettersndscience,ndemployed very xperienceo renderhose hainswhichhe hadforgedoth asyandagreeableothem.I, 10)Outside froyal ersonagesontributingo thedevelopmentf sciencenancient ritain, umeconsiders wofactorsmportantn the timulationndrise fmoderncience...the rintingress nd he iscoveryf heNewWorld.Ofthefirst, ume ays:The art fprinting,nventedbout hat ime 1453], xtremelyacili-tated heprogressfall thesemprovementsnavigation,eography,astronomy,tc.]: he nventionfgunpowderhangedhewhole rt fwar:Mightynnovationsere oon ftermade nreligion,uch s notonlyaffectedhose tates hat mbracedhem, ut eventhosethatadheredothe ncient aithndworship:And hus generalevolutionwas made n human ffairshroughouthispart ftheworld;mengraduallyttainedhatituation,ithegardf ommerce,rts,cience,government,olice,andcultivation,nwhich heyhave eversincepersevered.III, 81)

Notonly cience tself ut lso itshistoriographyas stimulatedy printing.The historian ad muchmorematerial o select and workfrom fter heemergencef he rintingress. he ast lause nthis assage, men raduallyattained hat ituation, ith egard fcommerce,rts, cience,government,police, ndcultivation,nwhich heyhaveever sincepersevered,"tronglyimplieshe dea ofprogress hichwe findn other istoriansfthe nlighten-ment. ume ontinues:Here, herefore,ommencesheuseful,s well as themore greeablepart fmodernnnals; ertainlyasplace nall the onsiderable,ndevenmost ftheminutearts fhistoricalarration;great arietyfevents, reservedyprinting,ive he uthorhe ower f electing,swell as adorning,hefactswhich erelates....III, 81-82)

Thispassagefrom heHistory..especiallyHume'smentionf"adorninghefacts".. provides betterontextorwhatHumemeans y"moral easoning"(reasoning ith articulars)nhistoryhannmost fhisotherwritings.


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 427Hume lso seems osuggest hat he iscoveryf heNewWorld erved sa stimulusor nventionndprogressf rt nd ndustryndby mplicationhesciences. or nstance:It was during hisreign HenryVII] ... thatChristopher olumbus,AGenoese,et ut rompain nhismemorableoyage or he iscoveryofthewesternworld; nd a fewyears fter, asquez de Gama, aPortuguese,assed heCape ofGood Hope, ndopened newpassageto the East Indies. The great ventswere attendedwith mportantconsequenceso all thenations fEurope, ven to suchas werenotimmediatelyoncernednthosenavalenterprises.heenlargmentfcommercendnavigationncreasedndustrynd he rtsverywhere....(III, 80)

The immensenumber f referenceshroughoutheHistory o geographyindicate hatHumeconsideredt an importantactornanykindofhistory.Humeregarded eographicalactorss "physical auses," ndhedefines hemas follows: Byphysical auses, mean hose ualities fthe irandclimatewhich resupposed o worknsensiblynthe emper,yalteringhe one ndhabit f he ody, ndgiving particularomplexion, hich,hougheflectionandreasonmay ometimesvercomet,willyet revail mong hegeneralityofmankind,nd havean influencen theirmanners"Hume, OfNationalCharacters,"ssays, 98).Whenwesurveyhe nglish istoriesefore imweunderstandhy e didthis: ewasapparentlyhe irstritish istorianogivegeographyny mportance,ither ortsown akeoras a factornhistory.orexample,Greenlandsthoughtohavebeendiscoveredbout his eriod" IV,144 [1625]). Geographys still onsideredignificantotheriseof scientificthought,utnot s much s Hume houghtnd n a differentay.ScienceNarrated

Besides Hume's narrationf thedevelopmentfscience nGreat ritainandhishistoriographicalrincipleshatnvokecience s subjectmatteror isHistory,here remanynstances hich how hat eused science s wellaspoliticsnd eligions a historicalategory.ume nferredtates f ffairsromthe bsence fscientificnventionsndactivity.orexample,n anappendixcalled"TheAnglo-Saxon overnmentndManners," umespeculatedhat"It seasy o maginehat n ndependenteople, olittle estrainedy awandcultivated y science,wouldnot be verystrictn maintaining regularsuccessionf heirrinces"I, 161).Laternthenext ppendix umendicatesthedifficultynderwhich arly cientistsn Britain ad to work. The baronsandgentry..gavenoencouragementothe rts,ndhadnodemand or ny fthemore laboratemanufactures:very rofession asheld ncontemptut


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428 S. K. Wertzthat f rms" I, 463).However umementionsome earning.nregardotheKingdomf Mercia,he writes: That mperor eing greatover f earningand earnedmen,nanagevery arrenf hat rnament,ffa,thisdesire,enthim verAlcium,clergymanuchelebratedor isknowledge, ho eceivedgreathonours romCharlemagne,nd even became his perceptorn thesciences" I, 42).When discussingeven earlierEnglishhistory,Hume states that ... theknowledgefnaturalauseswasneglectedby he axons], rom he niversalbelief fmiraculousnterpositionsnd udgments.."(I,51).3 This"negativeinferentialpproach"s,from contemporaryoint fview, wayofcoveringa historicalituation here heresno positivevidencevailable ndrevealssomethingbout he istorian'snowledgefgiven eriods,r he ack hereof.Hume peaksmany imes bout ignorance."TheperfidiousrinceOffal,"Hume ays, desirous freestablishingischaractern theworld,ndperhapsof ppeasinghe emorsesfhisown onscience, aidgreatourtothe lergy,andpractisedllthemonkishevotion omuch steemedn thatgnorantndsuperstitiousge (I, 41-42)."Onemaywellask, gnorantf what?Hume'sanswerwouldbethe rts nd ciences.HereHume stypicalfEnlightenmenthistoriansho re evere, onsympatheticudgeswho evy nagesdeficientnarts ndsciences.3' his mplicitrame freferenceuns hroughoutheHisto-ry nd ndicates,mong therhings,hat umewas attentiveothe tatus nddevelopmentfthe ciencesndifferenteriods.In accordwith his ias or frame freference,umeusually otes atherharshlyhe absence of science n any given period.For example, n hisdiscussion fthemanners ftheAnglo-Saxons, umecommentshat: The[Norman] onquest utthepeople n a situationfreceiving lowly, romabroad,he udimentsfscience ndcultivation,ndofcorrectingheiroughand icentious anners"I,85).Thisnegativenferentialpproachs ndicativeofHume' use ofscience s a categoryor heHistory. statementhichsomewhatemoveshe ondemningharacterfhis udgments,hough hichmakes negativenferentialoint,s that:

Every cience.. must econsideredsbeingyetn ts nfancy1625].Scholasticearningndpolemical ivinityetardedhegrowthfalltrueknowledge. irHenry aville, n thepreamble fthat eedbywhichhe annexed salaryto the mathematicalnd astronomicalprofessorsnOxford,ays,thatgeometry as almost otallyban-doned ndunknownnEngland. hebest earningf hatge [James]was the tudyf the ncients.V, 155)

30Cf. History,, 50-51.31Cf. Voltaire, ssayon theManner ndSpirit fNations,nThePortableVoltaire,d.B. R. RedmanNewYork,1949), 549-50.


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 429Therearethree eneral oints n the abovepassagewhichneed to beemphasizednevaluating ume'sHistory rom he tandpointf hehistoriog-raphy f cience. irstwe have oturn otheTreatise ofind descriptionf hestate fnatural hilosophy efore opernicus:Here, herefore,oral hilosophys inthe ameconditions natural,with egardoastronomyefore he ime fCopernicus.heancients,tho' ensible f hatmaxim, hat ature oesnothingnvain, ontriv'dsuch ntricateystemsftheheavens,s seem'd nconsistentith ruephilosophy,nd gave place at last to somethingmoresimple ndnatural. o inventwithoutcruple new principle o everynewphaenomenon,nsteadof adaptingt to theold; to overloadourhypotheses ith varietyfthiskind; recertainroofs,hat one fthese rincipless theustone, nd thatweonlydesire, ynumber ffalsehoods,o over urgnorancef he ruth.282; Hume' emphases)

And in "The Sceptic,"Hume discusses the merits f thePtolemaic ndCopernicanystemsE, 164-65).The secondpoint s Hume's recognitionhat ciencewas still n its"infancy" uring he1600s. One factorontributingo thedevelopmentfscience n GreatBritainwas individualswho promoted ciencebut whothemselves erenot onsideredcientistsrwhodidnot ontributeirectlyothe advancementf sciencebynovelexperimentsr hypotheses. ume'sinclusion fSirHenry avillefalls nto he bovementionedlassof ndividu-als.Also,from ume'shistoricaleneralizationbout henfancyf cience hephilosophical istorian as to nfermplicitlyhatHumeformulatedis udg-ment nthebasis ofthedependencef science ponregal ndividuals. his sinpart ue tohisuse ofCharacters a historiographicalonceptnhishistory.Third,Hume'sestimationf scholasticheologys questionablendhasbeencriticizedyphilosophicalistoriansndbyhistoriansfhistory.32isanti-religiousias is one ofthecornerstonesfhisemphasis ponscience.Moreover,isHistory icturesistorical ovementrchangentermsfbasicconflicts etween rganized eligion ndearlymoderncience, s they remanifestedn individuals r groups.Within his onflict r correlationheinterpretationhichHumefindsmost uitables that rganized eligiontiflesman'sgenius nd iberty,hus lowing ownorstagnatingheprocesses fhistory.cience,on the otherhand,has advancedmanhistoricallyowardenlightenment.he "sunof science"metaphorntheHistoryII, 508) makesthis ointbundentlylear.Clarifyinghismovementsoneof he hief alueswhichHumeplaces on thewritingf historys a wayto makethepastintelligiblend nstructiveor he eader. e wrotebout heEnglish ationn32 Someof thehistoriansollowingumewhowere ritical ereWilliam obertson,

Edward ibbon,William odwin,ndHenry allam.ee Francisalgrave,Hume ndhisInfluenceponHistory,"uarterly eview, 3 (1844), 36-92.


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430 S. K. Wertztermsf ts truggle,hichnvolvedhedevelopmentf cience.Histhoughtsare vividlyllustratednthefollowing assage:

All the ffortsf he reat aconcouldnot rocurenestablishmentorthe ultivationfnaturalhilosophy....heonly ncouragementhichthe sovereignnEnglandhas evergivento any thing hathas theappearancefscience,wasthis hort-livedstablishmentfJames aCollegeatChelsea];an institutionuite uperfluous,onsideringheunhappy ropension hich t that ime o universallyossessed henation or olemical heology.V, 132)The llustrationsfsciencewithin historicalerspective,s intheBaconexample bove,have beenmainly egative; hats, instances f science recoupled with nstances f religion. ut there re exceptions..such as hisCharacterfSirHenryaville.33o udgefrom hevarietyfreferencesited,Humewas nterestednwriting ore hanjustnoutlinef he istoryf cienceontheBritishsles. n hisHistory umencludes ot nlyndividuals homayhavemade cientificontributionsrpractisedhe ctivityut lsothosewhosupportedhe cientificnterpriseypromotingt none wayoranother,s hehad doneearliern theHistory ithAlfred heGreat.Hume' idea ofhistoryemergesrom hat e ncludesnthehistoryfEngland; hats,hisunderlyingassumptionsxhibit hat hehistoryf cience san ntegraleaturefhisgen-eral conception fhistorynd thathe viewed science as a cultural-socialprocess.34Asidefromuch iguressAlfred heGreat ndSirHenry aville,CharlesI andCharlesI are lsograntedignificancenthe ise f ciencenBritain. orHumeboth f hese ings remoremportanthanny therndividualsnthisrespectn hisHistory. or nstance, umeremarkshat harles I's "genius,happily urned owardsmechanics ad inclined imto study avalaffairs,which, f allbranchesfbusiness, eboth ovedthemost ndunderstoodhebest" VI, 446). As Humepoints ut, hekings id twosignificanthingsnpromotinghe rise of science n Britain:Charles encouragedHarvey'sanatomicalesearch,ndCharlesI gave patentor he ormationf heRoyalSociety.

SomeObjections onsideredOne possibleobjection o my presentationf the above Charactersfscientistss that portrayume s intendinghose o be an ntegral art fhisnarrative.thinkhathissnotust ppearanceut s reflectednhistheoryf33According o Robert . Westman,The Astronomer'sole inthe ixteenth entury:Preliminarytudy," istory fScience, 8 1980), 146, full tudy fSaville's ife ndworksis verymuchneeded.34 See especiallyMargaret . Jacob,TheCulturalMeaning ftheScientific evolution(New York,1988).


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 431history.owards he loseofhisdiscussion f he eign fRichardII (d. 1485)Hume concludes: Thus have we pursued hehistoryfEngland hroughseries fmany arbarousges;tillwe have t astreached hedawn fcivilityand science, nd havetheprospect,oth fgreaterertaintynourhistoricalnarrations,ndofbeing bletopresentothe eader spectaclemoreworthyfhisattention"II, 518). It shere hatwe findHume dvocatinghe ateoriginof science iew.Noticehesays thedawn fcivilitynd cience" ndnot hatthey avebeenreached..perhapshatwouldbenearly centuryaterwith hefoundingf heRoyal ociety fLondon nd ts llustrious embersikeBoyleandNewton.Whatwould onstitutehe awn f cience, speciallyround 485inGreat ritain?nspectinghe irsthree olumes f heHistorys I havedoneabovegives s an deaofwhatHumehad nmind,ut f ourse hatdawning"is also determinedywhat ame n ater eriods.We have eenAlfredheGreat,Julius gricola,nventionsuch s theprintingress ndmechanizedlocks,anddiscoveryf heNewWorld s those ndividualsnd ventswhichedto hedawningf science.Again, ne of hebest xpressionsfHume'sphilosophyfhistoryomesfrom is narrationfthe eign fRichardII:

The rise,progress, erfection,nd thedecline f art nd science, recurious bjectsof contemplation,nd intimatelyonnectedwithnarrationf ivil ransactions.heeventsfnoparticulareriod anbefully ccounted or, utbyconsideringhedegrees f advancementwhichmenhavereachedn those articulars.II, 519)Besides havinghistoriographicalmplications,his tatementoncerningheobjects fhistorys a justificationfhis nclusion fthe tate f earningndsciencentheHistory.t snotuntil henineteenthentury ith urkle,Marx,andEngels hat istoriansegin oappreciatehe nterrelationshiphatHumesees betweencientificndpolitical nd economic evelopments.ume lsodealswith his ubjectmore opicallyr with synchronicpproachn his es-say, OftheRise andProgressf heArts ndSciences."35hesciences, umespeculates,rose nGreecebecause tsgeographical egionswerenaturallydivided nto everaldistinctovernments;.e.,theregions iverise to theirgovernments.ume ater ivesupthe eographicheoryor greatman heoryof hehistoryf cience, robablyecausehe could ee theweaknessnsuchtheory. arvey's haracterlearlyuggestshis heorylongwith he neof heFrench cademy f science.Men of superior enius n England ffset heorganizedffortsftheFrenchovereign. umewas not n nductivististo-

3SEssays,111-17. ume bserves124)that a republics most avourableo he rowthofthe ciences,"nd n"OfCivilLiberty"90)hesays f Florencehatt "made ts hiefprogressn he rts nd ciences,ftertbegan o ose ts ibertyy he surpationf he amilyofMEDICI. ARISTO, ASSO,GALILEO,more han APHAEL, ndMICHELANGELO,were ot orn n republics."


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432 S. K. Wertzrian f sciencewhopainted cientistss blackor whitewhere he riterionfwhitenesss theup-to-date ewtoniancience extbook.36Besidesthe merits f commission here re thesinsof omission.Oneparticular laring xample s WilliamGilbert, est known orhiswork nmagnetism1600).Apparentlyumewas unawarefGilbert romhe emarkshe made n hisnarrationftheperiodnwhichGilbertived. nhisdiscussionofQueenElizabeth, umementionshe ueen'sphysiciansnpassingIV,350)butdoes notnote hatGilbert asamong hem.37Hume' omission fGilbertandhisrelationshipoElizabethcolors iswhole ccountf he ueen ndherreign.)Anothermission..that f John ocke.. comes from hehistoryfmedicine.n fact heresnot CharacterfLocke t ll ..even s a philosopher.William urner, ho srecognizeds a pioneerrthe atherfEnglish otanyin the ixteenthentury,s absent rom ume's History,ndso is Dr.HenryPower 1623-68) ndhismicroscopicalxperiments.38ifthsEdmund alley,whose eatsn stronomyerewellknown ndgivenmore pace ntheAnnualRegister1759) thansaac Newton's necdote 1772).39 alley'somission sdoublynterestingecause, s Westfall uts t, Historyasagreed hatwith-outHalley,whonot nly ncouraged ewton ut inancedhe ublicationromhis own slenderesources,hePrincipiawouldnothavebeenwritten"151);andNewton imselfcknowledgesis ndebtednessoHalley nthe reface.fHumehadread his, e couldnothave eftHalley ut.Buthe probably idnotread torat eastfailed o appreciatets mportance,ndso omittedt.Amoreunderstandablemission s theBritishmedieval air:Robert rossetesteca.1175-1253) ndRoger acon ca. 1214-95), oth fwhom evoted hemselvesto scientificnvestigations.acon wrote nexperimentalciencentheOpusMajus,Grossetesterote treatisen ightndgavea rudimentaryccount ftherainbow,nd no complete istoryfscience nGreatBritainwouldbewithouthem.Even thoughherecital fthehistoryf science n Hume'sHistorysprimarilyependentpon secondary,istoricalources,40his spectof his

36See Agassi's eminal ork, owardsnHistoriographyfScience;lso Maurice .Finocchiaro, istory fScience s ExplanationDetroit, 973),Part ; JamesW. McAllister,"Theory-Assessmentn theHistoriographyf Science,"British ournal f thePhilosophy fScience, 7 (1986), 315-33;andHelgeKragh,ntroduction.37Hume ites ohntrype's1643-1737)nnals f he eformationndEstablishmentf

Religion,ndOtherOccurrencesn theChurch fEngland, uring ueenElizabeth'sHappyReign:Together ith n Appendix f Original apers of State,Records,nd LettersOxford,1824), V, 521-22 doc. #276).38 Henry ower, xperimentalhilosophy,n Three ooks: Containing ewExperimentsMicroscopical,Mercurial,Magnetical.. (TheSources fScience,No. 21; NewYork,1966).39 On Halley's Character,ee "Some Particulars f the Life of Dr. Halley,"AnnualRegister1759), 283-90; Newton's necdote, nnualRegister1772), 34-37.40FrancisPalgrave, p. cit., uggests hatHume paraphrasedmanypassages from hehistories f earlier ritish istorians,ut t s also true hatmanyhistorians ad to followhislead becausethey ad to use the rchives e had discovered; ee HughTrevor-Roper,Humeas a Historian,"nDavidHume,A Symposium,d. D. F. Pears London,1963), 99.


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Hume ndtheHistoriographyfScience 433historicalorksone fhis riginalontributionso he evelopmentfmodemhistorysweknowt oday.nfact eexpandedheAdvocates'ibraryold-ingswhichncludedcientificaterialshile ewas he eeper.W.K. Dicksonrelates:

It s n dditions ade o he ibrary..that he ersonalityf Librarianbest ppears. hepurchaseists uringhegreaterart fHume'sKeepershipre reserved.heyover wide angef iterature,hieflyforeignooks,tandardlassics,ndworks n urisprudence,istory,and cience.41As Barfoot entions,umewas a memberf thePhysiologicalibraryfEdinburgh15 f)andhehad nongoingnterestnscience, hichmanifestsitselft heAdvocates'ibrarynd hroughoutiswritingsand s have riedto how ere hathisncludesisHistoryna significantay).

ConclusionIn "OfCivilLiberty"umewriteshatciences stilln ts nfancy:Men[e.g.,Thomas prat, ocke,Bacon mentioned91)],in thiscountry,ave een omuchccupiedn he reatisputesfReligion,Politics,nd hilosophy,hatheyadnorelishorheeeming inuteobservationsf rammarnd riticism.nd houghhisurnf hinkingmust ave onsiderablymprovedur ense nd easoning;tmust econfessed,hat,vennthose ciencesbove-mentioned,ehavenotany tandard-book,hich e an ransmitoposterity:nd he tmostwehave oboast f, re few ssaysowardsmoreustphilosophy;which,ndeed, romise ell, ut avenot,syet,eachedny egreeofperfection.92)

GivenwhatHumehassaidaboutNewton,think e would ave ncludedNewtonnthis roup,speciallyn ightfwhat ume aid bout ewtonn"Of heRise ndProgressf heArts nd ciences"121-22)whichquotedabove.From he haractersehave urveyed,t eemsikeHarveys the newhohas hework or osterity.ecall hat ume peakswithnqualifieduperla-tives:

Harveys entitledo thegloryfhavingmade, yreasoninglone,withoutnymixturef ccident,capitaliscoverynone f hemostimportantranchesf cience. ehad lso he appinessf stablish-4' WilliamK. Dickson, David Hume nd theAdvocates'Library,"uridical eview, 4(1932),9.


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434 S. K. Wertzing at oncehistheorynthemost olid andconvincing roofs; ndposterityas dded ittle o he rgumentsuggestedyhis ndustryndingenuity.is treatisefthe irculationftheblood s furthermbel-lishedby thatwarmthndspiritwhich o naturallyccompanyhegenuis f nvestigation.VI, 153)

Harvey's reatise,e MotuCordis TheMotion f heHeart 1628]), ppears cbe one of thosefew ssaysthat asreached degree fperfectionnd mayrightfullye called "standard-book"92). So it s at east urious hatHumedidnot nclude arveynthe irstank fmenalongwith alileo ndNewton),This ssurprising,ecause newould uspecthat ewtonwouldhave hemosipraiseworthyharacternd that is Principiawouldbe the standard-book."But n OftheRise andProgressf heArts ndSciences"Humemakest leaithatword s still utonNewton's heory:... if t can overcome heobstacleswhich tmeets tpresent1742] n llpartsfEurope,twill robably o downtriumphanto the atest osterity"122; emphasis dded).Apparentlyumehadhisdoubts..maybe twasBerkeley'sriticism42fNewton's oncepts labsolute paceandtime...but ot boutHarvey's reatise.This situations alsoreflectedntheTreatise, herenthe onclusion fBook III Hume describeshimself s an "anatomist," nd as having"... pro-ceed[ed] nthe ccuratenatomyf human ature, aving ully xplain'd henature four udgmentndunderstanding"I, IV, VII) atthe ndofBook . Inthesection XII) "Of thePrideandHumilityfAnimals"we can see theenormousnfluencefHarvey nHume'smethodologyftheTreatise,nd tis worthuotingn fullhere:

'Tis usualwithnatomistso ointheirbservationsnd xperimentsnhuman odiesto thoseon beasts, nd from heagreementf theseexperimentsoderive n additionalrgumentor ny articularypoth-esis. Tis indeed ertain,hatwherehe tructurefpartsnbrutessthesame s nmen,nd he perationf hese artslsothe ame, he ausesofthat perationannot edifferent,ndthatwhatever ediscover obe true fthe nespecies,maybeconcludedwithout esitationo becertain fthe ther. hus ho'themixturefhumoursndthe ompo-sitionfminuteartsmay ustly epresum'dobesomewhat ifferentinmenfrom hat t s inmere nimals; ndthereforeny xperimentwe makeupontheoneconcerningheeffectsf medicineswillnotalways pply othe ther; et s the tructurefthe eins ndmuscles,the abric nd ituationftheheart,f he ungs,he tomach,he iverandother arts,re he ameornearlyhe ame n allanimals,he erysamehypothesis,hich n onespecies xplainsmuscularmotion,heprogressfthe hyle, he irculationftheblood,must e applicable4' Georgeerkeley,e Motu1721/52),nPhilosophical orks,d.M. R. AyersLondon,1975),209-27.


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Hume nd theHistoriographyfScience 435to everyone; nd according s it agrees r disagreeswith he xperi-mentswemaymake nany pecies fcreatures,emaydraw proofof its truth r falsehood n thewhole.Let us, therefore,pply hismethod fenquiry, hich s found o justand usefulnreasoningsconcerninghe ody, oourpresentnatomyf hemind,nd ee whatdiscoveries e canmakeby t. 325-26)

Inthe irstnquirysection X,"OftheReasonofAnimals")Humemakes hesamepoint: The anatomical bservationsormedpon ne animal re, ythisspeciesofreasoninganalogy],xtendedo all animals; nd t s certainhat,when he irculationftheblood, ornstance,sclearly roved o haveplacein onecreature,s a frog rfish,t forms strong resumptionhat he ameprinciple as place n all" (112). Suchconfident,raiseworthyescriptionsfthe natomynd physiologyf hisdaymake tclear hatHarvey ather hanNewtonwasHume's dol of scientificchievement. hy?BecauseHarvey'sexperimentsreones he eaders anperformnthemselves...theyanconvertthe deas ntompressions.43ne cannot o thiswith hemotion ftheplanets,orvery ewnaturalhilosophers ere nthepositiono do so.In ight f wentieth-centuryhilosophyndhistoryf cience,hisHume-anperspectives most nusual nd ntriguing.he"measurement"rperiodi-zation orhe eventeenthenturysnodifferentnmovementromhe reviousones.Copernicusmadeonechange, epler nother,ndso on. Pierre uhem(1905) held a view similar o Hume's but fordifferenteasons: What regenerallyssumed o have been ntellectualevolutions ave almost lwaysmerely een slow, long preparedvolutions.... espectfortraditions animportantreconditionor cientificrogress."44he early istoryfEnglandthatHumenarratedtronglyuggestshat e wouldhaveagreedwith uhem.In"Of Commerce," umedefines istoricalhange: A longcourse ftime,with varietyf accidents ndcircumstances,rerequisiteoproduce hosegreat evolutions,hichomuch iversifyhe aceofhuman ffairs"E, 260).In "Of NationalCharacters,"ume aments:Allthe ciences nd iberal rts avebeenmportedous fromhe outh[Greece nd taly]; nd t s easyto magine, hat,nthefirstrdor fapplication,hen xcited y mulationndbyglory,he ew,whowereaddicted othem, ould arryhem othegreatest eight,nd stretchevery erve,nd very aculty,oreach he innaclefperfection.uchillustriousxamples preadknowledge verywhere,nd begotanuniversal steem or he ciences.E, 210)43 See Alec Fisher, heLogic ofRealArgumentsCambridge, 988), 184, 186,discussingHarvey, heMotion f theHeart, nd howthevaluesfunctionn theveins f the rm.I Pierre uhem,Les origins e la statique Paris, 1905-7), , 111, quotedfrom ragh,Introduction, .


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436 S. K. WertzThese "illustriousxamples" re theCharactersfBacon, Boyle,Harvey,Newton,ndthe est.Hencethepurpose f thehistoryf science s tospreadknowledge f the ciences nd "begot n universal steem or he ciences."Butthis s generallyrue f ntellectualistory.t s true ftheEnglishitera-ture oundn theHistory.ndeed, . C. Mossner ears go made he bserva-tionthat fHume's "character-sketches"f British uthorswerecollectedtogether,heywouldconstitutehe first History f EnglishLiterature."45Mossner' observationsevenmore rue f cience ecauseHume' historicalremarksn science ven houghimitedo the Miscellaneous ransactions,""Notes," nd"Appendices,"hey lay prominentole ntheHistory..in thenarrativetselfs part f he tory fEngland. cience ndphilosophyosteramanly, teddy irtue,...the] alm unshine fthemind."4Andfor he unofscience o hinetmust egiven placewheretmay adiate. istoricalhangeinHume'snarratives not ustpolitical.Withinpoliticalramework,nefindssocial, conomic,nd ntellectualorces tworknHume's narrative.Humewasnot niquenwhat ehaddonehistoricallyith cience.As saidearlier, oltaire adpopularizedcience nhisphilosophicalnd historicalwritings.ntheRevolutionnScienceCohengoeseven o far s todeclare hat:"This s allthemore emarkablenthat oltaire ecognized ow ignificantndfundamentalere he reationsnscience f suchmajorfoundingiguressGalileo ndNewton"204).The samemaybe said ofHume.He went eyondVoltairen thewayhe wovethehistoryf science nto national, oliticalhistorynd ppreciatedheirnteraction.oreseeinghat rogressnthehistoryof ciencewaspartiallyependentpon egal iguress an nsightot ppreci-ateduntil henext entury.47

Texas Christian niversity.

1sE. C. Mossner,AnApology orDavid Hume,Historian,"roceedings ftheModemLanguageAssociation,6 (1941),657-90; 679 and687.4 D. Hume,TheNaturalHistory fReligion,d. H. E. Root Stanford,956, 1967),73.47 I wish o thankheMellonFoundationnd Rice UniversityHouston, exas) for heir

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