David Hume · Philosophy

Reason, Passion, and Morality

Hume overturns the rationalist picture of ethics: morality is founded not on reason but on sentiment. Reason is ‘the slave of the passions’, and you cannot derive an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Hume held morality is based on sentiment, not reason; that reason alone cannot move us to act (it is ‘the slave of the passions’); and that you cannot logically derive an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’. Explain these claims.

Leads to Adam Smith.

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