This interpretation of Hume contests standard views by placing Hume's writings on religion securely within the context of his ethical concerns, and giving due attention to The History of English and The Natural History of Religion. Arguing that important aspects of Hume's writings on religion and moral philosophy can only be understood in light of his worries about the social effects of religion, this text reveals the links between Hume's concept of sympathy in the Treatise and his preoccupation with the destructiveness of religious faction. By tracing these concepts throughout Hume's corpus and setting his discussions of topics ranging from the nature of moral approval to the role of tragedy within the full scope of 18th-century thought, the author is able not only to shed new light on the coherence of Hume's authorship, but also to revise our understanding of the period in which he lived and wrote.