CHAPTER XI 



THE PBINCIPLES OF MORALS 



IN his autobiography Hume writes: 



"In the same year [1752] was published at London my 

 'Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals'; which in 

 my own opinion (who ought not to judge on that subject) is 

 of all my writings, historical, philosophical, and literary, in- 

 comparably the best. It came unnoticed and unobserved 

 into the world." 



It may commonly be noticed that the relative 

 value which an author ascribes to his own works 

 rarely agrees with the estimate formed of them 

 by his readers; who criticise the products, with- 

 out either the power, or the wish, to take into 

 account the pains which they may have cost the 

 producer. Moreover, the clear and dispassionate 

 common sense of the "Inquiry Concerning the 

 Principles of Morals" may have tasted flat after 

 the highly-seasoned " Inquiry Concerning the 

 Human Understanding." Whether the public 

 like to be deceived, or not, may be open to ques- 

 tion; but it is beyond a doubt that they love to 

 be shocked in a pleasant and mannerly way. 

 Now Hume's speculations on moral questions are 

 not so remote from those of respectable professors, 

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