This book was written with three aims in mind. The first was to provide a reasonably concise account of Hume's social and political thought that might help students coming to it for the first time. The second aim was to say something about the relationship between philosophy and politics, with explicit attention to Hume, but implicit reference to a general issue. The third is to offer an integrated account of Hume's thought. The book accounts for the varying interpretation of the conservative and liberalist traditions by arguing that the distinction between liberalism and conservatism had...

During World War II, the US military looked at their returning bombers to decide where to add extra armor. The planes were covered in bullet holes on the wings and tail, so the generals decided to reinforce those areas. But a statistician named Abraham Wald stopped them. He argued: "You are looking at the planes that came back. You need to put armor where the bullet holes are not-because the planes hit there didn't return.""The Missing Bullet Holes" uses this famous story of Abraham Wald to explain "Survivorship Bias," a logical error that plagues modern business and life. We study the habits...