David Hume Research Paper

David Hume is generally considered to be the first major proponent of modern scepticism. Philosophers of both the Continental and Analytic tradition have been impacted by his novel approach to philosophical inquiry. His conception of ethics is significant insofar as it represents a rejection of all previous attempts to establish moral framework. Unlike his predecessors, Hume did not attempt a normative project – that is, he had no interest in constructing a socially beneficial system of ethics. More accurately, his writings on the subject constitute a critique. This essay is guided by one of Hume’s most well-known and influential writings: A Treatise of Human Nature (1738). His most notable deviation from previous philosophies relates to his

Hume believed that chief defect of all theretofore existing philosophy lied in what is known as the Is-Ought Problem. “Instead of the usual copulations of propositions, is, and is not, I meet with no proposition that is not connected with an ought, or ought not" (Ibid). Philosophy has shifted from a speculative, logical project to a normative one. Theorist conceived of things – which have a fundamental basis in what is – the basis of what ought to be. You cannot derive an ought from an is, this produces unsound

Hume’s philosophical predecessors claim that the catalyst which renders an act either immoral or moral amongst humans, as opposed to lesser creatures, is our ability to behave rationally/reasonably – that is, to simply know better. It is said that, "Man, being endow'd with that faculty (i.e. reason), which ought to restrain him to his duty, the same action instantly becomes criminal to him" (p301). Conversely, Hume claimed that this constitutes a circular argument, due to the fact that, "before reason can perceive this turpitude, the turpitude must exist; and consequently is independent of the decision of our reason" (Ibid). However, this does not strike me as a convincing argument, it may be easily argued that the moral turpitude exists only in relation to reason; i.e. should we somehow lose our reason, the turpitude itself would simply vanish. Therefore, it does not have to precede reason. While this is a flaw in Hume’s argument, it is not significant enough to vitiate his refusal to acknowledge reason as the source of all moral action. Hume famously stated that, "Vice and virtue […] may be compar'd to sounds, colours, heat and cold, which according to modern philosophy, are not qualities in objects, but perceptions in the mind" (p304). This serves to corroborate his previous statement that morality exists within the realm of impressions rather than ideas. For Hume, this implies that morality is the result