Andrew Valls 'Footote': A Thematic Analysis

Andrew Valls seems to be the first scholar (at least in recent years) to take the approach that Hume’s philosophy is not racially charged, there is no reason to conclude that racism was part of Hume’s thought processes or that the few instances of racial comments are not truly part of his philosophy over all. “On the contrary, Hume’s philosophical views provide the resources to explain and correct Hume’s own racialism.” Hume’s overall philosophy focuses on the universality of human nature. He never explicitly says that all people are equal, but, according to Valls, it is implied repeatedly in his philosophical writings. “Hume’s views on race, especially what he says in the footnote, are not an outgrowth of his philosophy but rather depart from
Valls seems to be the first to explain that Hume is making a distinction in this particular essay between physical causes of social behaviors and what Hume calls “moral causes,” which are what we would call sociological, today. Valls notes that “Hume’s position in this debate is very consistent with his general philosophical views.” Valls chooses this point, early in his essay, to present the text of the footnote, calling it surprising. For any reader of Hume, this footnote certainly is a surprise, at the very least; utterly confounding at the worst. Valls defines racism as “a racially based disregard for the welfare of certain people…[or] a hatred, ill-will, directed against a person or persons on account of their assigned race.” According to Valls, with this definition of racism, it is clearly that Hume’s footnote is not actually racist, because Hume never asserts a moral superiority of whites versus nonwhites, nor does he express any type of ill-will toward nonwhite human beings. Hume, here, is simply stating the facts as he knows them, according to Valls. However, in the end of the Valls’ assessment of the footnote, he concludes