I agreed with the majority of the class that Boswell was in way over his head when talking to Hume. I found Hume's responces funny and light hearted, while at the same time BOswell was very serious and was looking for different awnsers that Hume was giving him. He did not know how to handle it.
One of the footnotes says tha Boswell "intermittently exasperated" Hume. Perhaps this may have been one of those occasions? In 15 years of acquaintance though, it is hard to conceive that Hume wouldn't have figured out Boswell pretty well by that time and simply stopped taking him seriously - thus the flippant responses.
Also, I think it is noteworthy that the final 'concession' to a possible future state was introduced without any context. There is no explanation of what question Boswell asked or why Hume said that if there was a future state that he would be OK. A conditional like that is philosophically and logically non-binding since conditionals can still be true even if their antecedent or premise is false. An atheist can say as much as they like 'If God exists then we'd be friends' without having given any concession to the believer.
I really enjoyed how Hume responded to the questions Boswell asked him. Through most of the second page, Hume jokes around with the questions while Boswell is trying to get him to admit that there is an afterlife. Hume takes the questions lightheartedly and enjoys the interview. The most interesting part of the interview is that it seems Hume ends up getting some perspective on what he wants out of his death. He doesn't admit that there is an after life, but he does take a crack at Boswell for Boswell's "I told you so" like comment. Hume says that if he does make it to the after life, he will have been there long enough to not care about any mocking comments Boswell will have for him when he meets him there.
Boswell gave me a lot of humor when reading the interview. Hume seems to be amused and humored by Boswell's obvious adoration, and although he responds logically and clearly, he also tries to joke around with Boswell and keep things lighthearted.
Like a typical diehard fan, Boswell kind of doesn't seem to notice and is not quick enough to handle his humor, making him like kind of goofy (for lack of better words).
I agree with what everyone else has been saying. Boswell admires Humes so much that he does not consider the fact that what Humes is saying is not always serious. He believes Humes to be a great man and therefore everything that he states must therefore be an intelligent well thought out remark. In Boswell's mind he has built up Humes so much that everything that he says seems profound. Though because of his inability to tell when Humes is being serious or simply playing with him, Boswell comes off a bit comical and sort of dumb. Humes may be taking this as a joke, but Boswell honestly beliefs that what Humes states is what he really is thinking. Sort of like when you meet someone and you build them up to be so great that you ignore any faults that you would ordinaly have noticed had you just been talking to a normal person.
5 comments:
I agreed with the majority of the class that Boswell was in way over his head when talking to Hume. I found Hume's responces funny and light hearted, while at the same time BOswell was very serious and was looking for different awnsers that Hume was giving him. He did not know how to handle it.
One of the footnotes says tha Boswell "intermittently exasperated" Hume. Perhaps this may have been one of those occasions? In 15 years of acquaintance though, it is hard to conceive that Hume wouldn't have figured out Boswell pretty well by that time and simply stopped taking him seriously - thus the flippant responses.
Also, I think it is noteworthy that the final 'concession' to a possible future state was introduced without any context. There is no explanation of what question Boswell asked or why Hume said that if there was a future state that he would be OK. A conditional like that is philosophically and logically non-binding since conditionals can still be true even if their antecedent or premise is false. An atheist can say as much as they like 'If God exists then we'd be friends' without having given any concession to the believer.
I really enjoyed how Hume responded to the questions Boswell asked him. Through most of the second page, Hume jokes around with the questions while Boswell is trying to get him to admit that there is an afterlife. Hume takes the questions lightheartedly and enjoys the interview. The most interesting part of the interview is that it seems Hume ends up getting some perspective on what he wants out of his death. He doesn't admit that there is an after life, but he does take a crack at Boswell for Boswell's "I told you so" like comment. Hume says that if he does make it to the after life, he will have been there long enough to not care about any mocking comments Boswell will have for him when he meets him there.
Boswell gave me a lot of humor when reading the interview. Hume seems to be amused and humored by Boswell's obvious adoration, and although he responds logically and clearly, he also tries to joke around with Boswell and keep things lighthearted.
Like a typical diehard fan, Boswell kind of doesn't seem to notice and is not quick enough to handle his humor, making him like kind of goofy (for lack of better words).
I agree with what everyone else has been saying. Boswell admires Humes so much that he does not consider the fact that what Humes is saying is not always serious. He believes Humes to be a great man and therefore everything that he states must therefore be an intelligent well thought out remark. In Boswell's mind he has built up Humes so much that everything that he says seems profound. Though because of his inability to tell when Humes is being serious or simply playing with him, Boswell comes off a bit comical and sort of dumb. Humes may be taking this as a joke, but Boswell honestly beliefs that what Humes states is what he really is thinking. Sort of like when you meet someone and you build them up to be so great that you ignore any faults that you would ordinaly have noticed had you just been talking to a normal person.
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