The cautious jealous virtue

by Annette Baier

"Annette C. Baier is one of David Hume's most sensitive and insightful readers. In The Cautious Jealous Virtue, she deepens our understanding of Hume by examining what he meant by "justice." In Baier's account, Hume always understood justice to be closely linked to self-interest (hence his description of it in An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals as "the cautious jealous virtue"), but his understanding of the virtue expanded over time, as evidenced by later works, including his History of England." "Along with justice, Baier investigates the role of the natural virtue of equity (which Hume always understood to constrain justice) in Hume's thought, arguing that Hurne's view of equity can serve to balance his account of the artificial virtue of justice. The Cautious Jealous Virtue is an illuminating meditation that will interest not only Hume scholars but also those interested in the issues of justice and in ethics more generally."--Jacket.