| 词条 | 戴维·休姆 |
| 释义 | § 简介 戴维·休姆 British philosopher and historian who argued that human knowledge arises only from sense experience. His works include A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740) and Political Discourses (1752). 戴维·休姆 Hume,David ：(1711-1776) 英国哲学家和历史学家，他认为人类认识的唯一来源是感觉经验。他的作品包括人性论 (1739-1740年）和 政治论 (1752年） § 生平 One of the greatest philosophers in Western history, as well as an accomplished historian, economist, perennial skeptic and delightful fellow. David Hume was one of the most prominent figures of the Scottish Enlightenment and a close friend of Adam Smith. Hume's contributions to economics are found mostly in his Political Discourses (1752), which were later incorporated into his Essays (1758). Hume was a virulent anti-Mercantilist. He was adamant that wealth was measured by the stock of commodities of a nation, not its stock of money. He was also one of the better articulators of the Quantity Theory and the neutrality of money ("It is none of the wheels of trade: it is the oil which renders the motion of the wheels more smooth and easy", Of Money, 1752). Contrary to the Mercantilists, Hume related low interest rates not to abundant money, but to booming commerce. He was one of the first to spell out the "loanable funds" theory of interest, arguing that interest rates are determined by the demand for loans and the supply of saving. Low interest rates are thus symptoms of a booming, commercial economy, where thrift and the desire for gain and accumulation take hold. However, he admitted that in the short-run (and only the short-run), a rising supply of money could have a beneficial effect on industry. Hume's most famous contributions are in international trade. Contrary to the Mercantilists, he did not conceive of foreign trade as a zero-sum game but argued that there are mutual gains. Far from being fixed, Hume argued that the total volume of international trade is directly related to the diversity and wealth of all nations. As he concludes, "I shall therefore venture to acknowledge that not only as a man, but as a British subject I pray for the flourishing commerce of Germany, Spain, Italy and even France itself." (Of the Jealousy of Trade, 1758). Hume also introduced the automatic "price-specie flow" mechanism and the "reflux principle". Its basic argument was to deny the old Mercantilist policy proposition that the inflow of gold specie into a nation could be accomplished by manipulating the external trade balance. Hume argued that the inflow of specie would, by his Quantity Theory, lead to a rise in domestic prices, thereby changing the terms of trade against the recipient nation. The demand for its exports abroad would consequently decline, and its own demand for foreign imports would increase, thereby reversing the external trade balance so that specie now would flow back out. Hume also used this logic to deny the idea that rises in prices can be blamed on rising wages. Specifically, if there was a wage-induced rise in the price level in England, the terms of trade between England and other nations would change in a manner detrimental to English exports and favorable to the imports from other nations. This would thereby induce an outflow of money from England , and thus a reduction in England's money stock which would bring the price level in England back down. Hume's automatic flow mechanism of international trade lent credence to the idea that there was a "natural balance" of trade between nations which deliberate policy moves could not contradict. But Hume was not a believer of the "natural law" or "social contract" theories popular with contemporary political and social philosophers. He was a thorough empiricist in both his political and philosophical work. His hedonistic theory of morals served as a foundation of utilitarianism. His theories of "evolution" of ethics, institutions and social conventions and were highly influential upon the Hayek and later evolutionary theories. |
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