Dr. Benjamin Hill

Hume and Malebranche on Prejudice

Research ← Project

Benjamin Hill and Wesley Hill (Western Ontario)

Abstract

Malebranche’s account of préjugé—prejudice or pre-judgment—treats it as a corruption of the natural cognitive order, rooted in the soul’s union with the body and its consequent dependence on the senses. This project examines how Hume engages with and transforms this account. Where Malebranche treats custom as a mechanism of corruption, we argue that Hume rehabilitates it as a foundational epistemic resource, inverting the normative structure of Malebranche’s picture while retaining much of its phenomenological detail.

Presentations

From Corruption to Custom: Hume on Malebranche and Préjugé

Prejudice in Hume and His Contemporaries · University College Dublin · Wednesday 24 June 2026 · 14:15–15:15

D422 Sociology Seminar Room, 4th Floor D Block Newman Building, UCD Belfield. Conference organised by Ruben Noorloos (UCD) as part of the project ‘Hume and the Prejudiced Self’, funded by Taighde Éireann–Research Ireland (grant no. GOIPD/2025/1772). Supported by the British Society for the History of Philosophy, the Mind Association, Taighde Éireann–Research Ireland, and the UCD School of Philosophy. Full conference schedule: UCD School of Philosophy.