David Hume [ Philosophy ]
… and his fellow select men were especially concerned with the improvement of Scotland in economics, politics, manners and taste, he also belonged to several convivial clubs such as the Poker Club (1762) in Edinburgh, 3 which counted among … also claimed that the civilizing effects of trade and commerce provided the ideal conditions for the development of taste and the arts: ‘The more these refined arts advance, the more sociable men become; nor is it possible, that, when … the greatest punishment we can suffer’. (Hume, Treatise , 234) In that ‘positive cycle of sophistication of our tastes and learning’, 6 the sociable interactions enhanced by urban social life were therefore highly valued by Hume in …
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