Реферат: Hume An Enquiry Concerning The Principles Of

Hence, the sentiment is the driving force behind the action.

Hume does not however say that reason is incapable of determining wether an action

is virtuous

or vicious (moral or immoral), but instead he tries to say that the reason for the

morality of an action does

not dictate the execution or perversion of an act so far as determination of wether the

action is executed

or not. In simpler terms, reason has it’s place in determining morality, but it is not in

the motivation of an

action. Motivation must come from the heart, or better yet, from within the person; from

their beliefs.

Reason merely allows the person to make moral distinctions. Without reason, there

would be no morality.

Without reason, one moral clause would not be differentiable from another. That is to

say that below all

morals, there must be some underlying truth because “Truth is disputable; not taste”

(p.14). If truth were

not disputable, there would be no way to prove that a truth was just that… a truth. To

make an analogy to

mathematics, truth is a function of reason, whereas taste is a function of sentiment.

Sentiment is a

function of the individual whereas reason is a function of the universe.

The universe as a whole must follow reason, but the catch is that each individual’s

universe is

slightly different in that each individual perceives his or her universe differently. “What

each man feels

within himself is the standard of sentiment.” (p.14) That is to say each person’s

individual universe has

truths. These truths are based on reason. These truths/reasons are what help to