"And does any thing steel the breast of judges and juries against the sentiments of humanity but reflections on necessity and public interest?"

— Hume, David (1711-1776)


Place of Publication
London and Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell, A. Donaldson, and W. Creech
Date
w. 1755, 1777
Metaphor
"And does any thing steel the breast of judges and juries against the sentiments of humanity but reflections on necessity and public interest?"
Metaphor in Context
What man, who has not met with personal provocation (or what good-natur'd man who has), could inflict on crimes, from the sense of blame alone, even the common, legal, frivolous punishments? And does any thing steel the breast of judges and juries against the sentiments of humanity but reflections on necessity and public interest?
(p. 595)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 6 entries in ESTC (1777, 1779, 1780, 1784, 1793, 1800).

First published in the posthumous Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. In Two Volumes. By David Hume, Esq; ... . Containing Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand: and A. Donaldson, and W. Creech, at Edinburgh, 1777). <Link to ESTC>

Unpublished 1755 version owned by National Library of Scotland serves as copy text in Reading Essays, Moral, Political and Literary, rev. ed. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1987).
Date of Entry
03/08/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.