A Study on Hume's Theory of Justice : Evolution, Utilitarianism, and the Social Contract

Abstract

This study aims to provide the correct interpretation of Hume’s theory of justice. The study on the nature of justice is of the utmost importance for comprehending Hume’s moral philosophy, for I argue that the virtue of justice is the central concept of his moral theory. In this sense, any plausible interpretation of this moral theory must take into account the nature of the virtue of justice as a priority in Hume. In the tradition, Hume scholars have come up with three main lines of interpretation of Hume’s theory of justice: i) the evolutionary interpretation, ii) the rule-utilitarian interpretation, and iii) the contractarian interpretation. Each of these lines of interpretation emphasizes a particular perspective adopted by Hume to explain the virtue of justice in his theory. And each of the three lines of interpretation makes some plausible points and relevant contributions to a better comprehension of the different parts of Hume’s theory of justice. To settle the interpretative dispute between the three lines of interpretation of Hume’s theory of justice, I assess them by their degrees of plausibility in face of the textual evidence in Hume’s work. In this way, I attempt to develop a correct interpretation of Hume’s theory of justice from the most plausible line of interpretation ascertained by this study.