David Hume The Origin Of Morality Essay

Morality is the standard by which we approve or disapprove of human behavior. While it can subjectively change from culture to culture, there are many common global principals for morality. Murder is generally frowned upon. Child poverty is for the most part looked down upon. Theft is globally unacceptable. This has been the case for millennia. Not all of the Earth’s civilizations had contact and yet many of them set up laws to ensure similar moral standards were upheld. In this essay I will discuss Hume’s view of the origin of morality and how we as a diverse species were able to create such similar standards of something as intangible as morality.
Morality is a uniquely human characteristic. As it is something we have created but cannot touch. We can assume it is housed in the inner workings of our mind. Morality moves us to action, but we must first determine its origin. The mind has the
capacity to do much, including being logical. However, logic alone is not enough to sway human behavior. If it were, nothing that has a statistically high chances of mortality would ever be attempted. Yet, people smoke cigarettes, an action that has been proven deadly. People refuse to wear seat belts, resulting in a higher risk for injury or death if an accident would occur. Tanning booths have been linked to skin cancer, and yet they are still used often, almost religiously by some people. None of these actions are logical, reasonable. Yet they occur at a frightening frequency. It can be assumed that for the most part, those engaging in these actions have a semblance of knowledge of the repercussions those actions may have on them. It cannot be assumed that people are experts in these fields, however basic knowledge of potential dangers are still readily accessible and often well known among the general public. If logic and reason cannot drive people to alter their behavior in a way that increases their life expectancy, it can be concluded that it does not have the power to compel moral behavior. Since it cannot demand moral behavior it can be concluded it is not the basis of said moral behavior.
Based on Hume’s premise that morality is not based in logic because logic doesn’t have the ability to compel actions, it must be found somewhere else.
Hume believes the root of morality is emotion. He believes emotions, or passions, as he calls them, are the driving force behind our actions. Hume believes that how we feel about things determines what we determine is moral or immoral. There is no logical reason for keeping one’s promises if there is no benefit to you. However, we as a people have decided that keeping one’s word is moral because we would like someone to do that for us. We keep our promises because we want people to think kindly of us. There is no logic behind it, but there is emotion. Even when there is nothing to be gained for us by keeping our promises, we still maintain its moral to keep them because of how it makes us feel. This means, even when it is illogical to do something, if we feel it is moral, we should do it. Reason is not enough to change how we behave. It can give us some direction but it cannot compel us to do
anything.
In conclusion, our desires, our emotions, our passions determine what we do. Reason provides us with the information necessary to accomplish the goals set forth by our passions. As Hume once said “Reasons are the slaves to the passions.” They cannot determine what we do, and may sometimes be contrary to what we should do or are doing, but that is only because our emotions are the root of our actions. Emotions are the root of our morality, and can only be influenced not altered by the logic.