PHIL226 : The Moral Psychology of Good and Evil - Psychology Assignment

Internal Code : MAS4817

Psychology Assignment :

Questions:

• Hume and Kant adopt very different positions on the role of emotion in morality. Read the quotation below from Hume and answer all the following questions in the form of a short essay.
• Provide clear textual support for your claims. Your work must show that you have read and understood the extracts from Hume and Kant on your reading list.
• “[U]pon the whole, ‘tis impossible, that the distinction betwixt moral good and evil, can be made by reason; since that distinction has an influence upon our actions, of which reason alone is incapable.” Hume

i)   Explain Hume’s argument that the influence moral judgments typically have on action means that such judgments cannot be based on reason. Why does Hume deny that reason can be the source of our moral ideas and that reason alone is capable of motivating action? ii)   How does Hume’s sentimentalist account of morality explain the connection between moral judgments, motivation and action? iii)  Why does Kant think that sympathy and other emotions (‘inclinations’) are not central to morality? iv)  Compare Kant’s view of the relation between emotion and morality with that of Hume. Which view is more convincing? Give reasons for your answer.