Empathy In David Hume's 'A Treatise Of Human Nature'
Yes, empathy with other human beings can provide a basis for morality because empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share feelings with another and morality is defined as the a particular system of values and principles of conduct. Therefore, empathy is the motivation for morality. David Hume, the author of “A Treatise of Human Nature”, was a Scottish philosopher that believed the “good of man kind is the only object of laws and regulations”. Hume is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time based off his arguments; everything is natural, morality is based on natural feelings and only desires can motivate human beings. The objective of this paper is to introduce Hume’s philosophy, interpret “A Treatise of Human
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Not to be confused that reasoning is a motivation for morality, but rather facts that help identify the natural feelings that motivate our actions or morals, whether they are right or wrong. Hume states, “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions”, where empathy can be considered the slave of passions for morality. There couldn’t be reasoning for morals, making certain things right and others wrong without being able to understand and share this moral with others. For instance, murder is considered against the ‘moral code’ because it is said to be wrong based on our feelings and understanding of life and how others may feel if it were to occur to someone they loved, allowing the majority of humans to base their morality on empathy. Take matrimony for example, the joining of two individuals for life could be considered part of empathy; sharing feelings with another, based on the fact that it is considered ‘morally right’ for those who wish to live together and make a family to be marriage, on a basis of empathy. Hume also argues against reasoning as a basis for morality because preferences are considered “original existences” and cannot be evaluated as rational or irrational. He states, "Reason is a slave to the passions” meaning that reason alone cannot be the motivation of morality; therefore there must be a pre-existing desire to motive morality. Hume goes against philosophers that came before him with the idea that reasoning has no part when determining goals for
Not to be confused that reasoning is a motivation for morality, but rather facts that help identify the natural feelings that motivate our actions or morals, whether they are right or wrong. Hume states, “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions”, where empathy can be considered the slave of passions for morality. There couldn’t be reasoning for morals, making certain things right and others wrong without being able to understand and share this moral with others. For instance, murder is considered against the ‘moral code’ because it is said to be wrong based on our feelings and understanding of life and how others may feel if it were to occur to someone they loved, allowing the majority of humans to base their morality on empathy. Take matrimony for example, the joining of two individuals for life could be considered part of empathy; sharing feelings with another, based on the fact that it is considered ‘morally right’ for those who wish to live together and make a family to be marriage, on a basis of empathy. Hume also argues against reasoning as a basis for morality because preferences are considered “original existences” and cannot be evaluated as rational or irrational. He states, "Reason is a slave to the passions” meaning that reason alone cannot be the motivation of morality; therefore there must be a pre-existing desire to motive morality. Hume goes against philosophers that came before him with the idea that reasoning has no part when determining goals for