“不信教者”大卫·休谟：死如其生

By Dennis Rasmussen

在愛丁堡的皇家英里（Royal Mile）有个休谟像，脚趾头被前来“朝圣”的人们摸得锃亮，因为有这么个说法，“信休谟，不挂科”，不知是中国留学生传出来的，还是原本就有。不过，求学者笃信休谟，倒真的错不了。此君二十几岁就写出《人性论》一书。德国大哲学家康德称，正是此书把他从“教条主义的沉睡”（dogmatic slumbers）中惊醒；而康德读的，还不过是个改名为《人类理解研究》的缩写本。休谟在历史、经济、宗教等各领域都有见解深刻的著述，可谓睿智、直言、擅写，更是“看透生死”，且看本文如何描画休谟的最后时刻。

As the Scottish philosopher David Hume lay on his deathbed in the summer of 1776， his passing became a highly anticipated event. Few people in 18thcentury Britain were as forthright in their lack of religious faith as Hume was， and his skepticism had earned him a lifetime of abuse and reproach from the pious， including a concerted effort to excommunicate him from the Church of Scotland.2 Now everyone wanted to know how the notorious infidel would face his end. Would he show remorse or perhaps even recant his skepticism？3 Would he die in a state of distress， having none of the usual consolations afforded by belief in an afterlife？ In the event， Hume died as he had lived， with remarkable good humour4 and without religion.

The most famous depiction of Humes dying days， at least in our time， comes from James Boswell， who managed to contrive a visit with him on Sunday，5 7 July 1776. As his account of their conversation makes plain， the purpose of Boswells visit was less to pay his respects to a dying man， or even to gratify a sense of morbid curiosity， than to try to fortify his own religious convictions by confirming that even Hume could not remain a sincere non-believer to the end.6 In this， he failed utterly.

“Being too late for church，” Boswell made his way to Humes house， where he was surprised to find him “placid and even cheerful … talking of different matters with a tranquility of mind and a clearness of head which few men possess at any time.”7 Ever tactful8， Boswell immediately brought up the subject of the afterlife， asking if there might not be a future state. Hume replied that “it was possible that a piece of coal put upon the fire would not burn”； and he added that “it was a most unreasonable fancy that we should exist for ever”. Boswell persisted， asking if he was not made uneasy by the thought of annihilation， to which Hume responded that he was no more perturbed by the idea of ceasing to exist than by the idea that he had not existed before he was born.9

This interview might show Hume at his brashest10， but in the 18th century it remained mostly confined to Boswells private notebooks. The most prominent and controversial public account of Humes final days came instead from an even more famous pen： that of Adam Smith11， Humes closest friend. Smith composed a eulogy12 for Hume soon after the latters death in the form of a public letter to their mutual publisher， William Strahan. This letter was effectively the“authorised version” of the story of Humes death， as it appeared （with Humes advance permission） as a companion piece to his short， posthumously13 published autobiography， My Own Life （1776）.