A teachable moment? David Hume and the Tower of Babel

Jonathan Hearn

doi:10.3366/scot.2022.0406

A teachable moment? David Hume and the Tower of Babel

Jonathan Hearn

School of Social and Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

This essay reflects on the de-naming of the David Hume Tower at Edinburgh University in September 2020. It critically examines and contextualises the racist footnote written by Hume, that was the focus of calls to remove his name from the building. It argues that an opportunity was lost to ask deeper questions about the contribution of David Hume to current thought, and why we may want to commemorate historical figures, despite their flaws. In short, a ‘teachable moment’ was squandered in this event. I conclude by suggesting that such symbolic gestures as the de-naming of the David Hume Tower are not effective ways to oppose racism.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	154-164
Number of pages	11
Journal	Scottish Affairs
Volume	31
Issue number	2
Early online date	25 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3366/scot.2022.0406
Publication status	Published - May 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

David Hume
racism
Enlightenment
competition of ideas
University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower

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10.3366/scot.2022.0406

HearnJ2021SAATeachableMoment
This article has been accepted for publication by Edinburgh University Press in Scottish Affairs, and can be accessed at https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/scot.2022.0406.
Accepted author manuscript, 231 KB

Cite this

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A teachable moment? David Hume and the Tower of Babel

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Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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