Hume on the Nature of Morality

Hume considers the nature of and origin of morality and asks whether it is derived from reason or sentiment, by which he means feelings rather than rational thought. This relates to Hume's conception of knowledge and thus his idea of the meaning and value of reason. Hume follows Locke by determining that all the contents of the mind, all ideas, derive from human experience and thus represent impressions. Hume uses different terminology than Locke, however. He says that perceptions is a term covering all of the contents of the mind in general. He divides perceptions into ideas and impressions. Impressions are described by Hume as the immediate data of experience, such as sensations. Ideas are the copies or faint images of impressions in thinking and reasoning. Impressions come by sensory observation, and ideas come from what is left as we recall those impressions. Idea in this regard signifies image. Hume derives all human

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t and wrong would thus be a priori to experience, and it is assumed that this rightness or wrongness could then be ascertained and interpreted by means of the application of reason: In order, therefore, to judge of these systems, we need only consider, whether it be possible, from reason alone, to distinguish betwixt moral good and evil, or whether there must concur some other principles to enable us to make that distinction (Hume 184). Hume then considers the fact that morality has an influence on human emotions and actions. If this were not so, he says, it would be foolish to learn all the rules and precepts offered by moralists. Hume divides philosophy into the speculative and the practical, and morality is always found in the practical column because it does have an influence on the passions and on actions--it is practical because human beings use it to decide how to behave. Common experience shows that thais is so and that human beings make use of moral conceptions in deciding what actions to take and what actions to avoid. Morals in this sense place an obligation on the individual. As noted, this is where Hume indicates that morals thus cannot be derived from reason alone: As long as it is allow'd, that reason
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Approximate Word count = 2115
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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