Russell on Hume’s Account of the Self

Abstract

The History of Western Philosophy enhanced Russell’s broad reputation among members of the public and helped secure his finances. But the academic community was less enthusiastic about the text and tended to treat it with contempt. My paper is a critical investigation of one of the central chapters of Russell’s History: namely, Russell’s rendition of David Hume’s views on the self. My argument is that Russell’s concise treat­ment of le bon David’s provocative views on the self must be read with great care—otherwise a misunderstanding of Russell’s interpreta­tion is likely to be foisted on this popular and influential twentieth­-century text.