PHIL1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Moral Psychology
16 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 5- Goodess ad Hua
Nature
Love, passion, disease
• Erotic love as the strong passion or desires, such desires beyond our
control (beyond the pale of reason)
Hume’s Moral Psychology
• Rejects the view that actions are governed reason rather than passion
• Reason alone cant motivate
• Desires cannot be irrational
• Reasoning cannot change our fundamental desires
• Both
The Argument for non-cognitivism
1. Only desires motivate
2. Moral judgements motivate
3. So moral judgements are desires
An objection:
• Drinking whiskey to cure a cold
• Hume says regarded as irrational only because they depend on our
irrational beliefs, or conflict with other desires of ours that are stronger
Non-cognitivism: moral judgements are expression of desires. They are not truth
apt
If moral judgments are desires, then what explains the fact that we are so often
converge in moral judgment?
Hume agrees that there’s convergence in moral judgement, but he thinks this can
be explained by shared desires, that is- by a universal or nearly universal human
desires
Experience of Moral Judgement
• Common to express moral claims in apparently representational terms
Is Human Nature Relevant to Ethics?
• Suppose we do all share certain fundamental desires, which on Hume’s
view means we will likely agree in many of our moral judgments.
• Wouldn’t that only show we can give a causal explanation of our moral
attitudes?
1. Natural: as things would be without human intervention
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Document Summary
Love, passion, disease: erotic love as the strong passion or desires, such desires beyond our control (beyond the pale of reason) Hume"s moral psychology: rejects the view that actions are governed reason rather than passion, reason alone cant motivate, desires cannot be irrational, reasoning cannot change our fundamental desires, both. The argument for non-cognitivism: only desires motivate, moral judgements motivate, so moral judgements are desires. An objection: drinking whiskey to cure a cold, hume says regarded as irrational only because they depend on our irrational beliefs, or conflict with other desires of ours that are stronger. Hume agrees that there"s convergence in moral judgement, but he thinks this can be explained by shared desires, that is- by a universal or nearly universal human desires. Experience of moral judgement: common to express moral claims in apparently representational terms. You are encouraging interference with nature: natural: without deliberation: in accordance with instinct, do what feels natural.
