Hume: An Enquiry Concerning The Principles Of Morals Essay, Research Paper

Philosophy, Hume

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

What is a moral? This is a question that has plagued philosophers for many years. Is

it possible

to have a set of universal morals? There are many questions that surround the

mystery of morals. They

seem to drive our every action. We base our decisions on what is right and what is

wrong. But what is it

that actually determines what is right and what is wrong? Is it our sense of reason? Is

it our sense of

sentiment? This is a question that David Hume spent much of his life pondering. What

exactly is it that

drives our actions? Yes, morals drive them, but what determines what our morals are?

What is it that

ultimately drives our actions; our feelings or our minds?

Hume would say that it is our sentiment that ultimately drives our actions. According

to Hume,

reason is incapable of motivating an action. According to Hume, reason cannot fuel

an action and

therefore cannot motivate it. Hume feel that all actions are motivated by our sentiment.

For example, on

page 84 Appendix I, he gives the example of a criminal. “It resides in the mind of the

person, who is

ungrateful. He must, therefore, feel it, and be conscious of it.” Here, it is evident that

Hume is saying that

unless the person, or criminal in this case, sincerely believes in what he wants to do,

he will not be able to

motivate the action. In other words, unless the sentiment is there, the action cannot be

willed into being.

Hence, the sentiment is the driving force behind the action.

Hume does not however say that reason is incapable of determining wether an action

is virtuous

or vicious (moral or immoral), but instead he tries to say that the reason for the

morality of an action does

not dictate the execution or perversion of an act so far as determination of wether the

action is executed

or not. In simpler terms, reason has it’s place in determining morality, but it is not in

the motivation of an

action. Motivation must come from the heart, or better yet, from within the person; from

their beliefs.

Reason merely allows the person to make moral distinctions. Without reason, there

would be no morality.

Without reason, one moral clause would not be differentiable from another. That is to

say that below all

morals, there must be some underlying truth because “Truth is disputable; not taste”

(p.14). If truth were

not disputable, there would be no way to prove that a truth was just that… a truth. To

make an analogy to

mathematics, truth is a function of reason, whereas taste is a function of sentiment.

Sentiment is a

function of the individual whereas reason is a function of the universe.

The universe as a whole must follow reason, but the catch is that each individual’s

universe is

slightly different in that each individual perceives his or her universe differently. “What

each man feels

within himself is the standard of sentiment.” (p.14) That is to say each person’s

individual universe has

truths. These truths are based on reason. These truths/reasons are what help to

determine the person’s

sentiment. However, it should be noted that because the reasons a>

Transfer interrupted!

sentiments, they do not motivate actions. One other reason why reason does not

impel action is because

reason is based on truths. Truths are never changing whereas sentiments are

dynamic and are in a

constant change of flux. At one moment, the criminal could feel sympathy for his

victims and decide to

spare a life, and the very next, the same criminal could become enraged at the pimple

on a hostage’s

forehead and shoot him.

Of course these are extreme cases, but the point is clear. Reason would dictate that

only the first

action would be moral. If reason drove actions, then moral behavior would prevail and

there would be no

immoral actions and hence there would be no crimes. This shows how sentiments

can change as the

individual’s perception of the universe changes. Obviously, the driving force behind

the criminal shooting

the victim because of a skin blemish is not one based on reason, but instead it is

based on feeling, emotion,

sentiment. Although it is an abstract idea and a seemingly tiny technicality, it is easy

to see that indeed

reason is not the ultimate motivator but instead sentiment is. ][][

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Date = 19 Dec 96 03:24:49

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subject = Philosophy, Hume

title = An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

papers = An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

What is a moral? This is a question that has plagued philosophers for many years. Is

it possible

to have a set of universal morals? There are many questions that surround the

mystery of morals. They

seem to drive our every action. We base our decisions on what is right and what is

wrong. But what is it

that actually determines what is right and what is wrong? Is it our sense of reason? Is

it our sense of

sentiment? This is a question that David Hume spent much of his life pondering. What

exactly is it that

drives our actions? Yes, morals drive them, but what determines what our morals are?

What is it that

ultimately drives our actions; our feelings or our minds?

Hume would say that it is our sentiment that ultimately drives our actions. According

to Hume,

reason is incapable of motivating an action. According to Hume, reason cannot fuel

an action and

therefore cannot motivate it. Hume feel that all actions are motivated by our sentiment.

For example, on

page 84 Appendix I, he gives the example of a criminal. "It resides in the mind of the

person, who is

ungrateful. He must, therefore, feel it, and be conscious of it." Here, it is evident that

Hume is saying that

unless the person, or criminal in this case, sincerely believes in what he wants to do,

he will not be able to

motivate the action. In other words, unless the sentiment is there, the action cannot be

willed into being.

Hence, the sentiment is the driving force behind the action.

Hume does not however say that reason is incapable of determining wether an action

is virtuous

or vicious (moral or immoral), but instead he tries to say that the reason for the

morality of an action does

not dictate the execution or perversion of an act so far as determination of wether the

action is executed

or not. In simpler terms, reason has it's place in determining morality, but it is not in

the motivation of an

action. Motivation must come from the heart, or better yet, from within the person; from

their beliefs.

Reason merely allows the person to make moral distinctions. Without reason, there

would be no morality.

Without reason, one moral clause would not be differentiable from another. That is to

say that below all

morals, there must be some underlying truth because "Truth is disputable; not taste"

(p.14). If truth were

not disputable, there would be no way to prove that a truth was just that... a truth. To

make an analogy to

mathematics, truth is a function of reason, whereas taste is a function of sentiment.

Sentiment is a

function of the individual whereas reason is a function of the universe.

The universe as a whole must follow reason, but the catch is that each individual's

universe is

slightly different in that each individual perceives his or her universe differently. "What

each man feels

within himself is the standard of sentiment." (p.14) That is to say each person's

individual universe has

truths. These truths are based on reason. These truths/reasons are what help to

determine the person's

sentiment. However, it should be noted that because the reasons are NOT

necessarily the person's

sentiments, they do not motivate actions. One other reason why reason does not

impel action is because

reason is based on truths. Truths are never changing whereas sentiments are

dynamic and are in a

constant change of flux. At one moment, the criminal could feel sympathy for his

victims and decide to

spare a life, and the very next, the same criminal could become enraged at the pimple

on a hostage's

forehead and shoot him.

Of course these are extreme cases, but the point is clear. Reason would dictate that

only the first

action would be moral. If reason drove actions, then moral behavior would prevail and

there would be no

immoral actions and hence there would be no crimes. This shows how sentiments

can change as the

individual's perception of the universe changes. Obviously, the driving force behind

the criminal shooting

the victim because of a skin blemish is not one based on reason, but instead it is

based on feeling, emotion,

sentiment. Although it is an abstract idea and a seemingly tiny technicality, it is easy

to see that indeed

reason is not the ultimate motivator but instead sentiment is. ][][