Philosophy - An Enquiry Concer
What is a moral? This is a question that has plagued philosophers for many years. Is it possible
to have a set of universal morals? There are many questions that surround the mystery of morals. They
seem to drive our every action. We base our decisions on what is right and what is wrong. But what is it
that actually determines what is right and what is wrong? Is it our sense of reason? Is it our sense of
sentiment? This is a question that David Hume spent much of his life pondering. What exactly is it that
drives our actions? Yes, morals drive them, but what determines what our morals are? What is it that
ultimately drives our actions; our feelings or our minds?
Hume would say that ...
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the person, or criminal in this case, sincerely believes in what he wants to do, he will not be able to
motivate the action. In other words, unless the sentiment is there, the action cannot be willed into being.
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 ...
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at the pimple on a hostage's
forehead and shoot him.
Of course these are extreme cases, but the point is clear. Reason would dictate that only the first
action would be moral. If reason drove actions, then moral behavior would prevail and there would be no
immoral actions and hence there would be no crimes. This shows how sentiments can change as the
individual's perception of the universe changes. Obviously, the driving force behind the criminal shooting
the victim because of a skin blemish is not one based on reason, but instead it is based on feeling, emotion,
sentiment. Although it is an abstract idea and a seemingly tiny technicality, it is easy to see that indeed
reason ...
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"Philosophy - An Enquiry Concer." Essayworld.com. August 14, 2006. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Philosophy-An-Enquiry-Concer/50721.
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