Oct 29, 2004 · Hume’s position in ethics, which is based on his empiricist theory of the mind, is best known for asserting four theses: (1) Reason alone cannot be a motive to the will, but rather is the “slave of the passions” (see Section 3) (2) Moral distinctions are …

Hume’s ethical thought grapples with questions about the relationship between morality and reason, the role of human emotion in thought and action, the nature of moral evaluation, human sociability, and what it means to live a virtuous life.

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals is a book by Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume. In it, Hume argues (among other things) that the foundations of morals lie with sentiment, not reason.

Feb 26, 2001 · Today, philosophers recognize Hume as a thoroughgoing exponent of philosophical naturalism, as a precursor of contemporary cognitive science, and as the inspiration for several of the most significant types of ethical theory developed in contemporary moral philosophy. 1. Life and Works. 2. The relation between the Treatise and the Enquiries. 3.

Mar 21, 2025 · David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. Despite the enduring impact of his theory of knowledge, Hume seems to have considered himself chiefly as a moralist.

David Hume (/ hjuːm /; born David Home; 7 May 1711 – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. [1]

Hume refutes the “selfish hypothesis” most forcefully in Appendix 2 of the Moral Enquiry, and also attacks it in his essay “Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature”.

Nov 30, 2021 · Hume believed that we are constantly being shaped and influenced by those around us, via both an imaginative, perspective-taking form of empathy – putting ourselves in …

The posthumously published Dialogues offer an extended treatment of the intellectual interchanges among facile orthodoxy, natural theology, and philosophical skepticism. There Hume took great care to expose what he believed to be the …

Hume’s ethics are avowedly hedonist (see Hedonism). All virtues, he generalizes, are qualities that please from a moral point of view either because they prove ‘agreeable’ (tend to bring pleasure) to their possessors or to others, or else because they are seen to have ‘utility’ for their possessors or for others.