From the reviews of Land of Oil and Water:

There’s one shot from Land of Oil and Water that keeps playing in my head, it’s of a woman gathering up a handful of a disturbing grey web covering her lawn. This is what is left behind after the spring melts the polluted snow: the emissions from the oil mines near Fort McMurray, Northern Alberta. There are a ton of stunning aerial shots and scenes of the lush muskeg distinctive to the area, but the devastating effects of the open-pit mines and their tailing ponds take the stage in this topical Canadian documentary directed by Warren Cariou and Neil McArthur. It premiered at the DOXA festival on Friday and is just right for types who like a little learning in their diet . . . . This movie doesn't set out to tell us the whole story of the oil sands; it is instead dedicated to giving a voice to an isolated people. In co-director Neil McArthur's words, "the reason you make a film like this is to start a dialogue." Land of Oil and Water speaks up in what is becoming a more and more heated conversation for us as Canadians.

Becky McEachern, Geist Magazine

From the reviews of David Hume’s Political Theory:

Neil McArthur’s David Hume’s Political Theory: Law, Commerce, and the Constitution of Government will be a welcome addition to the syllabus of upper-year under-graduate and graduate courses in eighteenth-century political thought and it will at the very least pique readers of feminist theory, critical theory, and post-colonial theory. It offers a refreshingly straightforward explanation of the political theory of Hume . . . . The book clarifies Hume’s political theory and, as McArthur intends, opens up dialogue within the history of political thought, especially as it is studied in political science where Hume can be sidelined at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In terms of explication of ideas peculiar to Hume, McArthur makes a contribution to the field’s understanding of a canonical thinker . . . . McArthur’s reading of Hume may productively take place in conversation with other schools of political theory ~for example, critical theory, feminist theory, post-colonial theory . . . . Clarification of Hume’s political thought in McArthur’s readable contribution will lead to questions of the constitution and consequences of power in both historical and contemporary context.

Nadine Changfoot, Canadian Journal of Political Science

In his first book, McArthur offers a highly nuanced view of the political theory of David Hume. McArthur rejects the idea that there is an irreconcilable tension between the skeptical philosophy of the Treatise of Human Nature and the empirically based work of the Essays and the History of England. McArthur identifies the values and commitments that underlie Hume's view of political life through an insightful discussion of the "indissoluble chain," which ties industry, knowledge, and humanity together in civilized society, and a creative presentation of the sophisticated theory of the law that is scattered throughout all of Hume's writings . . . . Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty.

E. J. Harpham, Choice

A thorough grounding in Hume scholarship, ranging from Duncan Forbes’ discussion of Hume on civilized monarchy to John B. Stewart’s reading of Hume as a liberal, has enabled McArthur to present the most comprehensive possible account of Hume’s political philosophy . . . The overall argument of this book is well balanced and provides an unobstructed view of Hume’s political philosophy.

Ryu Susato, Journal of the History of Philosophy

McArthur focuses on Hume’s argument that there are causal linkages between a society’s being ‘civilized’ (as opposed to ‘barbarous’), its legal system, its commercial system, and its accomplishments in the arts and sciences. Hume’s empiricism means that he makes these kinds of causal claims only by a detailed investigation and comparison of particular societies, especially England, but also France, and ancient Greece and Rome. One of McArthur’s great accomplishments is bringing these disparate texts together and thus illuminating Hume’s conception of political life. He shows that, for Hume, a society is civilized only to the extent that it has established the rule of law, where the ruler’s character is irrelevant to the functioning of the social order. And McArthur ably demonstrates that Hume means for this point to apply not only to the highest powers in society, but also to the lesser magistrates who implement the legislative order. With civilization, advances in commerce become possible, and with it the development of science and knowledge. McArthur thus concludes that the traditional description of Hume as a conservative is misplaced. McArthur’s insightful book is a pleasure to read, and a real addition to the history of political thought.

Donald Ainslie, University of Toronto Quarterly

In six short chapters (and a conclusion), Neil McArthur offers a terrific introduction to Hume’s political theory. By carefully investigating Hume’s essays and historical writing, McArthur offers a comprehensive and balanced account of the systematic and “unified” nature of Hume’s political thinking. This well written, slender volume will be of interest to Hume scholars, historians of philosophy, historians of political thought, and scholars interested in Enlightenment thought.  Because of the clarity of argument students at all levels will find it a very useful work to consult when they are writing term papers pertaining to Hume’s theorizing. McArthur offers a compelling interpretation of Hume as a “precautionary conservative” . . . . McArthur’s genius lies in . . . exploring the detail of Hume’s conceptual distinctions previously unappreciated by other scholars.

Eric Schliesser, Journal of Scottish Philosophy

Neil McArthur chose with care the title of his fine book . . . McArthur concentrates on providing a clear and succinct survey of those of Hume’s texts which bear on the question of what kind of government is best suited to solve the (as Hume saw the matter) wholly new problems presented to legislative and executive power by the rise of international commerce. McArthur is to be congratulated for acknowledging the centrality of this question to Hume’s intellectual biography. He is also to be congratulated for recognising that just as important as the essays among the texts in which Hume poses and answers the question is the entirety of The History of England. He does not press the point, but, still, McArthur provides further reasons to see the History not as an exercise in belles lettres that Hume turned to once his most important work was done, but, instead, as the culmination and crowning glory of Hume’s career as a philosophical analyst of the age in which he lived.

James Harris, Hume Studies

This is an enjoyable book on Hume’s political thought that takes seriously his place in the intellectual development of both liberalism and conservatism. Indeed the model of conservative liberalism that McArthur draws from across the body of Hume’s work seems to come much closer to the humane spirit of his writings than those interpretations of his political thought that dwell overlong on Treatise Book 3 and philosophical skepticism.

Craig Smith, Eighteenth Century Scotland

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