This leads these views into incapabilism, the disastrous conclusion that human beings cant make. And so, rather than take as my primary aim to argue for my own view of the reason to be moral, i will here claim to put forward a view motivated by its philosophical modesty, but which is also surprisingly successful. This collection is devoted to questions in metaethics and moral psychology arising. The humean theory of motivation maintains that beliefs by themselves are insufficient to motivate action and that a desire is a necessary component in explaining action. Very briefly, his line is that to make a moral judgment that an action is good is to judge that one would desire to perform that action if one were fully. Blame and the humean theory of motivation springerlink. I argue that the categorical quality of moral requirements shows at most that moral motivation need not flow from a background desire to be moral. Some adopt a humean conception of motivation, according to which beliefs about reasons must combine with independently existing desires in order to motivate rational action. Many philosophers find the arguments in favor of externalism to be highly compelling. Meanwhile, anti humeans argued that belief alone is sufficient to motivate. Humean externalism, moral motivation is the product of ones moral desires the desire to be moral, perhaps. The humean theory of motivation, encapsulated in the slogan reason alone cannot. Morale and motivation are related but not the same.
Moral motivation the humean argument for noncognitivism. The humean theory of motivation reformulated and defended neil sinhababu national university of singapore david humes famous dictum that reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them 2. It is also important to differentiate morale and motivation. When philosophers talk about moral motivation, this is the basic.
The humean theory of motivation princeton university. The tripartite theory of motivation in platos republic. The humean theory of motivation the central idea of the humean theory of motivation is that desire is. These misunderstandings have gone hand in hand with seeing hume as embracing two views about moral judgment. Insofar as an anti humean need not think of motivation as something over and above the evaluative belief in question, whether or not the theory is exactly the one hume himself would have endorsed, this is the theory that has come to be called the humean theory of motivation in the contemporary literature. In practically rational agents, moral judgments directly cause motivation.
Mental illness, motivation and moral commitment the. Moral action refers to action that complies with the requirements of morality. Humeanism is often called the beliefdesire model of action because it explains all intentional behaviour including moral behaviour by citing a combination of a desire for some end, and a belief that an action is a means to achieve that end. Finally, anti humean moral realists like mark platts and john mcdowell accept 1 and 2, and therefore reject 3 or perhaps they only accept 2, and reject both 1 and 3. This claim, plus the humean theory of motivation, can still provide a promising argument for noncognitivism. Humean externalism is the view that moral motivation must be explained in terms of desires that are external to an agents motivationallyinert moral judgments. In this article i am speaking only of streets version of the theory, but will.
Moral judgments do not always motivate, hence they do not necessarily motivate. Realism, rational action, and the humean theory of motivation. Pdf reids nonhumean theory of moral motives esther. In a subsequent book the moral problem smith tried to reconcile the humean theory of motivation with moral internalism i. I shall hereafter refer to the humean theory of motivation as the humean theory. They disagree, however, over the question of how such beliefs motivate rational action. See the selections from hutchesons inquiry concerning the ori. This chapter argues in favour of the humean theory of motivation as the best account of moral motivation. Mar 31, 2017 this paper rejects arguments for the humean construal, illustrates deep failings of that view, and uses these considerations to support anti humean accounts of blame in particular and moral motivation more broadly.
On the other hand, kants moral philosophy, the example par excellence of a deontological. Moral motives take the form of virtues, character traits, or dispositions that enable an agent to act in ways that are useful or agreeable, to herself or to others. For an excellent discussion of the sorts of problems this entails see dancy, jonathan, practical reality oxford, oxford university press, 2000, chapter 1. Although the dilemma shows that neither theory can be considered adequate in its standard form, i argue that if the humean theory is modified so as to embrace a richer notion of satisfaction than it currently does, it can solve the problem which. But the claim has developed from the thought that beliefs are insu. In the moral problem michael smith adopts a similar strategy, giving a humean account of motivating reasons and an anti humean account of normative reasons. It argues that standard objections to kant fail to take heed of his general theory of action and the intrinsic difficulties in finding, on any sensible theory, a fully satisfactory explanation of moral motivation. Kants account of motivation must be understood in the context of his general theory of. Realists about practical reasons agree that judgments regarding reasons are beliefs. View essay identity as a source of moral motivation. Moral motivation without passion, for reidto understand that rational motives such as the moral ones require no affective mental states in order to influence humans to action for reid, we will consider some further aspects of reids account of the animal motives, of moral motives, and of moral sentiments in general. Objectivity, since moral judgements really are judgements. I begin with smiths proposed solution to the moral problem and work back to his defense of the practicality requirement.
The humean theory of motivation htm has received an incred ible amount of philosophical. Very briefly, his line is that to make a moral judgment that an action is good is to judge that one would desire. According to smith, the constitutive claim of the humean theory of motivation. The humean theory of motivating reasons chapter 4 morals. Cognitivist internalist views and some sophisticated noncognitivist views identify moral judgment with motivational states other than desire, which arent found in actual human psychology.
Chapter 11 explains how the humean theory supports a cognitivist and externalist view of moral judgment. Moral judgements are held to be a subset of values, i. Published in philosophical studies 48, 2 september 1985. Motivation, humean theory of sobel major reference. The moral problem modified mp1 moral judgements of the form it is right to. Humean theory of practical irrationality journal of ethics and. Humes theory of motivation part 2 daniel shaw introduction and summary of part 1 in an earlier paper of the same title1 1 defended a humean theory of motivation against rationalist views ofb. Humes account of moral judgment and argue that darwalls criticism is based on an incorrect interpretation of humes view of motivation and the moral sentiments. This way of explaining moral realism follows geoffrey sayremccord, the many moral realisms, in essays on moral realism, ed. In this paper, i argue that humean theories of moral motivation appear preferable to kantian approaches only if one assumes a broadly foundationalist conception of rational justi. Perhaps a humean can explain how moral evaluation is possible on the basis of attitudes and desires blackburn, 1998. Three kinds of moral motivation hume discusses at least three things we can call moral motivation. Humean sentimentalism and nonconsequentialist moral.
Finally, then, smiths solution to the moral problem. Introduction a perennial debate in metaethics concerns how the relation between moral judgements and motivation should be understood. According to the humean view, belief is insufficient for motivation, which always. Clearing conceptual space for cognitivist motivational. A treatise of humean nature university of texas at austin. It is nearly a commonplace of contemporary moral philosophy that a humean theory of morality cannot explain the normative. Although concerning moral ought judgments uinternalism can beand often isadapted to encompass other moral predicates, e.
A study in the unity of a treatise of human nature thus simple. Dispositional theories of value michael smith, david. Those who hold that moral judgments are beliefs with intrinsic motivational force need to oppose this view, and many of them have proposed counterexamples to it. Altruistic motivation, the desire to benefit someone in need, to reduce a persons distress or enhance his or her wellbeing, is more directly focused on the person rather than on a belief or principle. It does not show that moral judgments can motivate by themselves, or that. This article sees moral sentimentalism as contrasting with rationalism, by which it. I present a dilemma which depressive behavioural pathology poses for both humean and non. Kant, hume, and the problem of moral motivation oxford. The concept of morale is heavily used in domains in which collective effort and energy are essential for accomplishing extraordinary goals or delivering critical services. Pdf the humean theory of motivation reformulated and.
Humes theory of motivation part 2, hume studies deepdyve. Humeans claim that this idea is incoherent and thereby unintelligible m. Iv beliefdesire psychology, the humean theory of motivation. Indeed, note that this ought to be conceded even by those who think that moral reasons are rational requirements on action. This chapter contrasts humean theories of moral motivation with kants critical account. My overall verdict is that smith does not succeed in solving the moral problem. Moral motivation stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Platts, ways of meaning, london, routledge and kegan paul, i979, chapter io, and moral reality and the end of desire in reference, truth and reality, london, routledge and kegan paul, i980, edited by mark platts. Humes argument that moral distinctions are not derivd from reason6 is that reason just. Humes moral philosophy stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. This paper is in humean moral philosophy and contemporary.
Christos douskos aristotelian university thessaloniki. Hume on motivation and virtuecharles pigden 20091127 contemporary ethical thought owes a great deal to david. A central point of contention in the ongoing debate between humean and anti humean accounts of moral motivation concerns the theoretical credentials of. In practically rational people, moral judgements all by themselves cause motivation. Humean sentimentalism and nonconsequentialist moral thinking.
Importantly, the intended sense in which s is motivated is. This chapter begins with a general overview of humes views on motivation, paying particular attention to the influence of belief on motivating passions, hence on the will. The humean conception of the self prevalent in the contemporary literature in moral and political philosophy, philosophy of mind, and action theory has yielded a persuasive model of human action that has contributed considerably to our understanding of moral motivation. Smith argues that when i imagine becoming more rational and more informed i must perforce also think of myself as converging with others in my fundamental desires. Request pdf humean moral motivation this chapter argues in favour of the humean theory of motivation as the best account of moral motivation. Humeans about motivation hold that desire is necessary for motivation, while humeans about reasons hold that our reasons for action are grounded in our desires. Ralph wedgwood, practical reason and desire, australasian journal of philosophy 80 2002. Smith on desire and action the fact that smith accepts a humean picture of motivation may seem to commit him to an externalist view of the connection between moral belief and motivation. There are less specific references to versions of the theory in carla bagnoli, moral constructivism. A standard argument in favor of humean externalism appeals to the possibility of amoral or morally cynical agentsagents for whom moral considerations gain no motivational. The humean theory of motivation reformulated and defended. Intuitively the idea is that merely accepting that such and such is the case say, that the cat is on the mat in no way by itself provides the agent with a goal which.
These motives do not involve moral thoughts, or desires whose content. More precisely, i investigate various accounts of moral motivation and explain how externalists can employ them in order to answer this question. A central point of contention in the ongoing debate between humean and anti humean accounts of moral motivation concerns the theoretical credentials of the idea of mental states that are cognitive and motivational at the same time. Very briefly, his line is that to make a moral judgment that an action is good is to judge that. Moral motivation notes stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Given his particular stress on useful traits, a key part. Oct 29, 2010 many philosophers today approach important psychological phenomena, such as weakness of the will and moral motivation, using a broadly humean distinction between beliefs, which aim to represent the world, and desires, which aim to change the world. Oct 01, 2009 this essay defends a strong version of the humean theory of motivation on which desire is necessary both for motivation and for reasoning that changes our desires. But for a humean, action explanation can proceed without moral evaluation. So if cognitivism, internalism, and the humean theory are all true, there can be no moral judgments. In conjunction with a humean picture of motivation, it has provided a challenge for cognitivist theories that take moral judgments to concern objective aspects of.
This gives us a reason to reject cognitivist internalism. Moral motivation in virtue ethics the agents motivation does not play a particularly important role in consequentialist ethics, because moral decisions are based on an impersonal and objective evaluation of the consequences of actions. Gill abstract hume recognizes that there are different types of human motivation that play a role in the. Moral sentimentalism and moral psychology oxford handbooks.
Humean moral psychology is more nuanced than darwalls objection in particular and rationalist criticisms more generally have assumed. Objectivity internalism the humean theory of motivation. The idea that moral imperatives are categorical is commonly used to support internalist claims about moral judgment. Humean internalism about moral judgements1 motivational internalism about moral judgements is the. Then, smith thinks, we can accept objectivity, internalism, and the humean theory of motivation. Humean moral psychology is more nuanced than darwalls objection in particular and. Davidson and decision theory 1 4 wanting and valuing. The humean theory of motivation the central idea of the humean theory of motivation is that desire is the source of all of our motivations to act. The humean theory of motivation phil2315 value theory dan marshall.
167 115 1372 1823 710 1578 1406 744 85 441 535 700 501 1775 1427 1190 1315 639 1011 821 1386 491 1339 196