This work investigates the core question of whether justice and social institutions are rooted in objective moral truths or are merely the product of evolving human conventions. Jonathan Harrison provides a rigorous examination of David Hume’s philosophical framework, specifically focusing on how human artifice constructs the foundations of property, government, and law. By applying a modern analytical lens to Hume’s eighteenth-century arguments, the author evaluates the logical consistency of Hume’s claim that our duty to obey these conventions arises from utility rather than innate moral intuition.

Scholars frequently cite this text as a precise and focused critique of Hume’s political philosophy. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for those already familiar with the foundational tenets of empiricist ethics.