Hume's A Treatise Of Human Nat

A detailed Summary of Hume's A Treatise Of Human Nat

In Hume's A Treatise Of Human Nature he makes a distinction between passions and reason. He Points out that reason is a slave to the passions. Reason is what directs our judgment, concerning causes and effects (p.461). These causes and effects are what directs our reason. There are some who object to this theory that Hume presents saying "Surely reason is not always the slave of the passions for sometimes I act against my passions just to be reasonable." Though this objection might seem to have validity it can be seen as faulty by paying close attention to Hume's section on the influencing motives of the will. The key to this argument is that the person is not acting just to be reasonable. It is that they are acting out of a secondary passion, which can be nature, good, or aversion to evil. It is the passion and not the reason that is causing the way the person chooses to act. Reason can't alone produce an action only desire can move the action of the will.

It is important to also distinguish the that there are types of passions or desires, those that are originally implanted in our natures and those which are a result of the general appetite to good and the aversion to evil (p.464). The first is desire is inborn. If someone

In light of the fact that reason cannot invoke an action it can neither oppose an action. The only thing that can oppose a passion is a contrary passion (p.462). Another example can aid in the understanding of this theory. A shopper is in a grocery store deciding on which foods to buy. The shopper is faced with a decision on whether to buy

were offered 100 dollars to jump off of a building, any sane person would say no. This is because they have a natural desire to stay alive also known as the law of self-preservation. This desire is innate and is implanted in us from birth. Other natural desires are those of hunger, thirst, and sleep. The passions, which result from the appetite to good, could be considered as desires of self-advancement for example. This can be anywhere from a person trying to receive a higher salary at their job to someone trying to receive the most recognition in their field. This appetite for good cannot be considered as natural instinct. This is because it is society that exemplifies what is good and what is successful. The aversion of evil can simply be described as avoiding bad or choosing one passion to avoid another. For instance one might go to court in order not to go to jail. Usually a person does not want to do neither one of these things but he or she does it to avoid a greater evil.

College students are constantly faced with the arduous task of having many assignments due at one time. Many times they are faced with typing a paper or studying for a test until the wee hours of the morning. Now in this there are always options. The student could go to sleep or continue to study. Now one could easily make the mistake and say that a student would study late because they reason to do so. This is not the case, reason analyzes the causes and effects the two choices, sleeping and studying. Reason displays that sleeping will give the body rest and studying either prepare you for the test or raise your grade in the class. This is analyzing the two options, not acti

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Approximate Word count = 1352
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics