David Hume, Scottish Political Philosopher who died in 1776

Recommendable! The author of this article uses Michael Oakeshott a lot for his argument.

David Hume was part of the Scottish Enlightenment. E.g. Friedrich August von Hayek wrote a lot about him as a classical liberal.

Caveat: I did not read the entire long article.

"... In contrast with the individualism of the natural rights school of Hobbes and Locke, Hume viewed the family as the basic unit of society: “the first and original principle of human society … is no other than that natural appetite between the sexes, which unites them together, and preserves their union, till a new tie takes place in their concern for their common offspring.”

However, the natural love of family (and friends) implies and indeed demands a “limited generosity” [akin to limited government] toward others. Our limited generosity, along with scarcity, means that justice [not equity] is necessary for several families to unite in a larger society, which in turn is essential for security and prosperity.

Though Hume accepted that smaller, uncultivated societies could get by for a while without government, he was clear that no large-scale society would be possible without justice. Against Hobbes, Hume viewed justice as prior to government, which was underpinned by what he called “laws of nature.” Three fundamental “laws of nature” stood out for Hume, all related to property (the prerequisite for peaceful coexistence): the stability of possession, its transfer by consent, and the performance of promises. The total system of human law was an amplification of these fundamental laws of nature. ..."

David Hume, Political Philosopher – Max Skjönsberg

Source

David Hume’s Stark Warning: Reason Serves Passion

Food for thought! In the 21st century this is still very true, unfortunately!

This is also called hindsight rationalizing of decisions!

Caveat: I did not read the entire article.

"David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature has been called “one of the keystone books of western philosophy,” “the founding document of cognitive science,” and perhaps the “most important philosophical work” in the English language. ...

For those who believe reason governs them, further consideration of Hume’s philosophy exposes their arrogance.

“Nothing is more usual in philosophy, and even in common life,” Hume wrote in his Treatise, than to claim the “pre-eminence of reason above passion.”  

By passions, Hume means our predispositions, charged thinking, and emotions generated by beliefs of which we are often unaware. Hume argues, “reason alone can never produce any action, or give rise to volition.” He adds, “I infer, that the same faculty [reason] is as incapable of preventing volition, or of disputing the preference with any passion or emotion.”

Hume argues our “passions” come first, and then we use “reason” to justify what our emotions have decided. We think reason drives our decision-making bus, but reason is often only a passenger. ..."

David Hume’s Stark Warning: Reason Serves Passion | The Daily Economy "Hume argues our passions make decisions first, and then we use reason to justify what our emotions have decided."

Reason Is Slave To The Passions Nonsense

David Hume

David Hume is perhaps a great philosopher, but he so terribly erred when he said  "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions" in his “A Treatise of Human Nature”. In this respect Scottish Enlightenment has a serious defect.

Hope, I am not doing any injustice to David Hume here.

Undermines Individual Liberty And Responsibility

Anyone who believes in or acts on this or similar assertions is likely an authoritarian.

I would easily argue anytime that reason and moral values of most People beat any passions most of the time. Caveat: Nobody is perfect! :-)