David Hume and the Danish Debate about Freedom of the Press in the 1770s

Journal of the History of Ideas

Volumn 59, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 167-172

  Laursen, John Christian ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0042335284     PISSN: 00225037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3654060     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. Hr. F. A. d. Voltaires Brev til Hans Majestaet Kongen af Danmark angaaende den udi hans Stater forundte Tryk-Frihed. Tilligemed nogle Afhandlinger af besiegtet Indhold (Copenhagen, n.d. [1771]).
2. Luxdorphs Samling af Trykke-frihedens Skrifter, First Series, Vol. XX, pamphlet #4. We can date the pamphlet to 1771 with great probability because of its location in the collection among other pamphlets dated 1771, in the last volume before the fall of Struensee on 18 January 1772. The publisher, Lars Nielsen Svare, flourished from 1757 to 1777 (Harald Ilsøe, Bogtrykkerne i København og deres virksomhed ca. 1600-1810 [Copenhagen, 1992], 155ff).
3. Translated from the original German in Rasmus Nyerup (ed.), Luxdorphiana, eller Bidrag til den danske Literairhistorie (Copenhagen, 1791), 1-2; also in Holger Hansen, Kabinetsstyrelsen i Danmark (Copenhagen, 1916), I, 46-47.
4. Translated from the original German in Rasmus Nyerup (ed.), Luxdorphiana, eller Bidrag til den danske Literairhistorie (Copenhagen, 1791), 1-2; also in Holger Hansen, Kabinetsstyrelsen i Danmark (Copenhagen, 1916), I, 46-47.
5. See Stefan Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee: Arzt, Aufklärer und Staatsmann (Stuttgart, 1983). Winkle mentions the Luxdorph collection at p. 267, n. 30, but does not use it. The chief study of the press freedom controversy in Danish, Edvard Holm's Nogle Hovedtraek af Trykkefrihedstidens Historie 1770-1773 (Copenhagen, 1885), does use the Luxdorph collection, but does not mention Hume. In English there are relevant materials in Thorkild Kjaergaard, "The Rise of Press and Public Opinion in Eighteenth-Century Denmark-Norway," Scandinavian Journal of History, 14 (1989), 215-30, and Henrik Horstbøll and Uffe Østergaard, "Reform and Revolution: The French Revolution and the Case of Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of History, 15 (1990), 155-79.
6. See Stefan Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee: Arzt, Aufklärer und Staatsmann (Stuttgart, 1983). Winkle mentions the Luxdorph collection at p. 267, n. 30, but does not use it. The chief study of the press freedom controversy in Danish, Edvard Holm's Nogle Hovedtraek af Trykkefrihedstidens Historie 1770-1773 (Copenhagen, 1885), does use the Luxdorph collection, but does not mention Hume. In English there are relevant materials in Thorkild Kjaergaard, "The Rise of Press and Public Opinion in Eighteenth-Century Denmark-Norway," Scandinavian Journal of History, 14 (1989), 215-30, and Henrik Horstbøll and Uffe Østergaard, "Reform and Revolution: The French Revolution and the Case of Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of History, 15 (1990), 155-79.
7. See Stefan Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee: Arzt, Aufklärer und Staatsmann (Stuttgart, 1983). Winkle mentions the Luxdorph collection at p. 267, n. 30, but does not use it. The chief study of the press freedom controversy in Danish, Edvard Holm's Nogle Hovedtraek af Trykkefrihedstidens Historie 1770-1773 (Copenhagen, 1885), does use the Luxdorph collection, but does not mention Hume. In English there are relevant materials in Thorkild Kjaergaard, "The Rise of Press and Public Opinion in Eighteenth-Century Denmark-Norway," Scandinavian Journal of History, 14 (1989), 215-30, and Henrik Horstbøll and Uffe Østergaard, "Reform and Revolution: The French Revolution and the Case of Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of History, 15 (1990), 155-79.
8. See Stefan Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee: Arzt, Aufklärer und Staatsmann (Stuttgart, 1983). Winkle mentions the Luxdorph collection at p. 267, n. 30, but does not use it. The chief study of the press freedom controversy in Danish, Edvard Holm's Nogle Hovedtraek af Trykkefrihedstidens Historie 1770-1773 (Copenhagen, 1885), does use the Luxdorph collection, but does not mention Hume. In English there are relevant materials in Thorkild Kjaergaard, "The Rise of Press and Public Opinion in Eighteenth-Century Denmark-Norway," Scandinavian Journal of History, 14 (1989), 215-30, and Henrik Horstbøll and Uffe Østergaard, "Reform and Revolution: The French Revolution and the Case of Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of History, 15 (1990), 155-79.
9. See Stefan Winkle, Struensee und die Publizistik (Hamburg, 1982).
10. Luxdorphs Samling, First Series, vols. I and II. Hereafter cited in this paragraph in the text by volume number.
11. See my "Spinoza in Denmark and the Fall of Struensee" (forthcoming).
12. "Épitre au Roi de Danemark, Christian VII, sur la liberté de la presse accordée dans tous ses états," in Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire (Paris, 1877), X, 421-27.
13. See Voltaire, Correspondance, ed. Theodore Besterman (Paris, 1986), X, 542 (Letter no. 12125).
14. Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee, 114, 140, 148.
15. "Liberté d'Imprimer," Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, (Paris, 1879), XIX, 586-89.
16. "Om Pressens Frihed af Hume," 23-31 of Hr. F. A. d. Voltaires Brev. The Bibliotheca Danica: Systematiskfortegnelse over den Danske Litteratur fra 1482 til 1830, V, Registerband, ed. Lauritz Nielsen (Copenhagen, 1931), 120, cites the "Hume" in this pamphlet as a pseudonym for Voltaire, and refers the reader to vol. II (orig. 1886, repr. 1962), 1083, which has an entry under Voltaire's name for this pamphlet, but this part of the pamphlet is a translation of Hume's essay.
17. 2), I, 9-20, and in German in Vermischte Schriften (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1756), IV, 8-16. The Danish translation is from the the text of the D (1748) to P (1768) editions in the Green and Grose variation list. It translates the sentence "I shall endeavor to explain myself" of editions D to P and contains the longer conclusion omitted after P (see David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Eugene F. Miller [Indianapolis, rev. ed., 1987], 604-5).
18. 2), I, 9-20, and in German in Vermischte Schriften (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1756), IV, 8-16. The Danish translation is from the the text of the D (1748) to P (1768) editions in the Green and Grose variation list. It translates the sentence "I shall endeavor to explain myself" of editions D to P and contains the longer conclusion omitted after P (see David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Eugene F. Miller [Indianapolis, rev. ed., 1987], 604-5).
19. 2), I, 9-20, and in German in Vermischte Schriften (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1756), IV, 8-16. The Danish translation is from the the text of the D (1748) to P (1768) editions in the Green and Grose variation list. It translates the sentence "I shall endeavor to explain myself" of editions D to P and contains the longer conclusion omitted after P (see David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Eugene F. Miller [Indianapolis, rev. ed., 1987], 604-5).
20. Struensee knew and admired Hume, which could only have been in French or German (see Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee, 199, n. 76, 311, n. 84). In a letter of 1767 to Struensee's friend Gähler, U. G. Holstein reports that he has read "la nouvelle histoire d'Angleterre par Hume" (Inkvisitionskommissionen af 20. Januar 1772, ed. Holger Hansen[Copenhagen, 1936], IV, 61).
21. Struensee knew and admired Hume, which could only have been in French or German (see Winkle, Johann Friedrich Struensee, 199, n. 76, 311, n. 84). In a letter of 1767 to Struensee's friend Gähler, U. G. Holstein reports that he has read "la nouvelle histoire d'Angleterre par Hume" (Inkvisitionskommissionen af 20. Januar 1772, ed. Holger Hansen[Copenhagen, 1936], IV, 61).
22. Nor are there any references to Hume in the 450-page secondary work on the next rounds of the press freedom debate in Denmark (Harald Jørgensen, Trykkefrihedsspørgsmaalet i Danmark 1799-1848 [Copenhagen, 1944]).
23. With the exception that much of "Of Liberty and Necessity" from the first Enquiry was translated in the introduction to F. G. Howitz, Determinismus eller Hume imod Kant [Determinism, or Hume Against Kant] (1824-25); see Cai Viale's note in David Hume, Religionens naturlige Oprindelse og Udvikling [The Natural Origin and Development of Religion], ed. and tr. Cai Viale and Anton Thomsen (Copenhagen, 1906), 103-4.
24. With the exception that much of "Of Liberty and Necessity" from the first Enquiry was translated in the introduction to F. G. Howitz, Determinismus eller Hume imod Kant [Determinism, or Hume Against Kant] (1824-25); see Cai Viale's note in David Hume, Religionens naturlige Oprindelse og Udvikling [The Natural Origin and Development of Religion], ed. and tr. Cai Viale and Anton Thomsen (Copenhagen, 1906), 103-4.
25. Published in Copenhagen, 1767. Bibliotheca Danica, II, 516. Günter Gawlick and Lothar Kreimendahl describe this as "far from a translation" but rather as a reworking of some of Hume's ideas into a guidebook to Great Britain (Gawlick and Kreimendahl, Hume in der deutschen Aufklärung [Stuttgart, 1987], 29).
26. Published in Copenhagen, 1767. Bibliotheca Danica, II, 516. Günter Gawlick and Lothar Kreimendahl describe this as "far from a translation" but rather as a reworking of some of Hume's ideas into a guidebook to Great Britain (Gawlick and Kreimendahl, Hume in der deutschen Aufklärung [Stuttgart, 1987], 29).
27. Religionens naturlige Oprindelse, ed. and tr. Viale and Thomsen, and David Humes Liv og Død: samt hans Essays om Selvmord og sjaelens Udødelighed [David Hume's Life and Death: with his Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul], ed. Anton Thomsen and tr. Rigmor Adler (Copenhagen, 1906). See Anton Thomsen, David Hume: Hans Liv og Hans Filosofi [David Hume: His Life and His Philosophy] (Copenhagen, 1911), which does not mention other translations. Most recently, see Dialoger om den naturlige religion [Dialogues concerning Natural Religion], tr. Anita Bay and Christian Bundegaard (Copenhagen, 1996).
28. Religionens naturlige Oprindelse, ed. and tr. Viale and Thomsen, and David Humes Liv og Død: samt hans Essays om Selvmord og sjaelens Udødelighed [David Hume's Life and Death: with his Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul], ed. Anton Thomsen and tr. Rigmor Adler (Copenhagen, 1906). See Anton Thomsen, David Hume: Hans Liv og Hans Filosofi [David Hume: His Life and His Philosophy] (Copenhagen, 1911), which does not mention other translations. Most recently, see Dialoger om den naturlige religion [Dialogues concerning Natural Religion], tr. Anita Bay and Christian Bundegaard (Copenhagen, 1996).
29. Religionens naturlige Oprindelse, ed. and tr. Viale and Thomsen, and David Humes Liv og Død: samt hans Essays om Selvmord og sjaelens Udødelighed [David Hume's Life and Death: with his Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul], ed. Anton Thomsen and tr. Rigmor Adler (Copenhagen, 1906). See Anton Thomsen, David Hume: Hans Liv og Hans Filosofi [David Hume: His Life and His Philosophy] (Copenhagen, 1911), which does not mention other translations. Most recently, see Dialoger om den naturlige religion [Dialogues concerning Natural Religion], tr. Anita Bay and Christian Bundegaard (Copenhagen, 1996).
30. Religionens naturlige Oprindelse, ed. and tr. Viale and Thomsen, and David Humes Liv og Død: samt hans Essays om Selvmord og sjaelens Udødelighed [David Hume's Life and Death: with his Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul], ed. Anton Thomsen and tr. Rigmor Adler (Copenhagen, 1906). See Anton Thomsen, David Hume: Hans Liv og Hans Filosofi [David Hume: His Life and His Philosophy] (Copenhagen, 1911), which does not mention other translations. Most recently, see Dialoger om den naturlige religion [Dialogues concerning Natural Religion], tr. Anita Bay and Christian Bundegaard (Copenhagen, 1996).
31. 2, repr. 1996), containing the two Enquiries and a summary of the Treatise.
32. Etiske Skrifter [Ethical Writings], ed. Magne Malmanger (Oslo, 1968; repr. 1993 with preface by Jon Elster), contains a small part of Book II plus Book III of the Treatise, along with parts of the Enquiries. See also Bernt Vestre (ed.), En avhandling om den menneskelige natur [A Treatise of Human Nature] (Oslo, 1971). Norwegian is close enough to Danish to be sold in Copenhagen University bookshops today.
33. Etiske Skrifter [Ethical Writings], ed. Magne Malmanger (Oslo, 1968; repr. 1993 with preface by Jon Elster), contains a small part of Book II plus Book III of the Treatise, along with parts of the Enquiries. See also Bernt Vestre (ed.), En avhandling om den menneskelige natur [A Treatise of Human Nature] (Oslo, 1971). Norwegian is close enough to Danish to be sold in Copenhagen University bookshops today.
34. The Letters of David Hume, ed. J. Y. T. Greig (Oxford, 1932), II, 184. The research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the American Philosophical Society; thanks also to Johannes Laursen and Poul-Henning Laursen for research assistance.