The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m. on Sunday, August 12, 2007 by Ted Morris, President of the Hume Society, who announced the agenda:

1.  Approval of the minutes of the 2006 business meeting.

2.  Motions of Gratitude to the Conference Organizers

3. Updates on Future Conferences

4.  Report of the President

5.  Report of the Secretary-Treasurer

6.  Report of Hume Studies Editors

7.  New business

 Under item 1, Approval of the of the 2006 minutes was moved and seconded.  The minutes were ratified by the members present.

 Under item 2, the following motions of gratitude were passed unanimously:

Motion One:  I invite all here assembled to join me in expressing the Hume Society’s deepest gratitude to Boston University for its gracious hospitality as the host institution of the 34th Annual Hume Society Conference, convened in Boston, Massachusetts, 7-12 August 2007.

We also thank the Boston University Humanities Foundation for their generous suppport.

Motion Two:  I invite all here assembled to join me in expressing our congratulations and acknowledgement of indebtedness to the Conference Co-directors,

Prof. Manfred Kuehn (Boston University)

Prof. Aaron Garrett (Boston University)

Prof. Kate Abramson (Indiana University)

In particular, we commend:

 (1) their willingness to undertake shared responsibility for planning and jointly organizing the conference;

(2) their judiciousness in creating a splendid conference program on the themes of  The Four Dissertations (published 1757), Hume on Economics and Politics, and The Union of 1707;

(3) their resourcefulness in seeking and securing funding for the conference;

(4) their energy in overseeing the countless arrangements and details that contributed to the great success of the event; and especially

 (5) their care to insure that Hume Society members from many different countries had a chance to become personally acquainted with one another, and with their respective ongoing intellectual activities.

I further move that the copies of the above expression of gratitude be sent to the appropriate administrators of Boston University and Indiana University.

Under item 3. Updates on Future Conferences

Mikael Karlsson reported on the 2008 conference in Iceland. The website is already up, and contains information about the itinerary for the conference. Three institutions will be involved, The University of Iceland in Reykjavik, Hólar University College, and the University of Akureyri. Mike said that costs would not be prohibitive (compared to hotels in Boston, it won’t be that bad) and he is trying to find other ways to keep costs down. We will spend two nights at Hólar University College, with accommodations and meals included in the conference fee. Attendees will have to make their own hotel arrangements for Reykjavik and Akureyri. Airlines offer hotel accommodations at special rates, and that is worth looking into.

The organizers for the 2009 conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia reported on their progress. The organizers are Don Baxter, Nathan Brett, and Livia Guimaraes. The themes will be naturalism and natural philosophy. So far, funding has been secured for two guest speakers. Students will have the option of staying in a dorm. Halifax is an attractive city, easy to get to, with three universities in the area.

Under item 4.  Report from the President

The EC has accepted invitations to host Hume Conferences in Antwerp (2010) from Willem Lemmens and Jackie Taylor and Edinburgh (2011) from Martin Bell and James Harris. 2012 will be held in North America. Invitations are welcome. We have a statement of interest from Livia Guimaraes for a conference in 2013 in Brazil.

Under item 5.  Report from the Secretary-Treasurer

1. Executive Committee Elections. In 2006, William E. Morris was elected president; Rachel Cohen and Saul Traiger were elected as regular members. Their terms extend from January 2007 until December 2009. 

The regular EC members whose terms will expire at the end of 2007 are David Norton, David Owen, and Tutsuya Sakamoto. All are eligible for re-election.  

A call for nominations will go out in early September. Elections, conducted electronically on the humesociety.org website, will take place in November.  Members must have usernames and passwords to vote. Continuing members of the EC are Lorne Falkenstein, Donald Ainslie, Livia Guimaraes, Rachel Cohen, Saul Traiger, Ted Morris, President, and Corliss Swain, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, who serves ex officio. The secretary-treasurer’s term has been extended until the end of 2008.

The Executive Committee is currently seeking nominations, including self-nominations, for the executive secretary-treasurer. Anyone interested in serving in this capacity should contact an Executive Committee member. The term will begin in January 2009.

2.  Membership Data. The Society currently has 552 members in 37 countries, including new members from Bulgaria, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, Serbia, and South Africa. 

Members by Country.  The top ten countries in terms of membership are:  US 305, Canada 61, UK 43, Japan 28, France 16, Italy 18, Germany 11, Spain 10, Brazil 7, Finland 6

Members by Regions.  (Using UN World Macro Regions):   Africa 1, Americas 377 (68.3%), Asia 38 (6.9%) , Europe 128 (23.2%),  and Oceania 8 (1.4%)

In 2006, there were 49 new members. Between January 1, 2007 and August 4, 2007 another 32 members have joined.  Names and affiliations of new members can be found at New Members. 

Dues.  As of 1 August 2007, 43.6% of Hume Society members had yet to pay their dues for 2007.  29.0% have paid ahead (2008 or later). Dues may be paid electronically on the web using credit cards or PayPal.

As of 1 August 2007, 480 members (89.3%) had valid usernames and passwords.  Usernames and passwords are required for voting in elections, for member services, and for accessing the most recent volumes in the Hume Studies on-line archives.

3.  Conference Submissions.  41 papers were submitted for the Boston conference. 26 papers were accepted (acceptance rate: 63.4%). Two graduate students were awarded the Hume Society’s Graduate Student Travel Stipend this year: Katharina Paxman for her paper "Autism, Hume and Moral Agency” and Jennifer Smalligan for  her paper “Does Hume Hold a Dispositional Account of Belief.”

4. Hume Studies archives are available to members on a CD, which has more search options than the on-line archives.  The CD, which costs US $55 (including shipping), can be ordered on the website in the For Members Only section at  www.humesociety.org/members/membersonly/cd-sales.html. Special rates are available for students.

Report from the Treasurer:

The Hume Society’s main expenses continue to be 1) support for Hume Studies ($7,500 plus $500 for copy editing services), 2) Graduate Student Travel Stipends ($2,000 for 2007; $2,500 for 2006), 3) Webhosting services ($610.00), and 4) Gifts for Conference Organizers $290.00 in 2006.

The Society’s revenues are primarily from member dues. Sales of Hume Studies CDs grossed $165.00 in 2006 and $110.00 in the first half of 2007.

Swain expressed a special thanks to Saul Traiger and Ted Morris who have helped with Secretary-Treasurer duties over the last year while she was undergoing treatment for a serious medical condition. Both gave generously of their time and experience to keep the office running.

Under item 6. Report from Hume Studies Editors. Peter Loptson’s report is available online at http://humesociety.org/about/editorial-report-07.html

Under item 7. New Business

Elizabeth Radcliffe and Saul Traiger expressed interest in hosting a conference in California in 2012, possibly at Santa Cruz. Other expressions of interest were forthcoming from Cinzia Recca (University of Catania in Sicily) and Eugenio Lecaldano in Rome (2013).

Bob Mahoney asked future conference organizers to look into the possibility of registering for conferences using PayPal or credit cards along with on-line registration.

Corliss Swain announced the agenda for the Eastern Division APA Hume Group Meeting in Baltimore, MD. Speakers will be Miriam McCormick, University of Richmond, "Hume’s Skeptical Politics" and Andrew Lister, Queens University, "Varieties of Scepticism and Toleration."  Kathleen Wallace is the Eastern Division Organizer.

Ted Morris concluded the meeting by asking members to express their thanks to Jane McIntyre for her service to the Hume Society as President and throughout the years as a member of the EC, which they did with enthusiasm.  Members also joined Ted in thanking Saul Traiger for the work he has done both in his official capacities as Secretary, President, webmaster, EC member, and behind the scenes in myriad ways.

After a motion and second, the meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted,

Corliss Swain, Executive Secretary-Treasurer 

July 31, 2008