Hume, Reason and Morality: A Legacy of

Covering an important theme in Humean studies, this book focuses on Humes hugely influential account of the relation between reason and morality, found in book three of his Treatise of Human Nature. Arguing that this account includes a fundamental contradiction that has gone unnoticed in modern debate, this fascinating volume contains a refreshing combination of historical-scholarly work and contemporary analysis that seeks to expose this contradiction and therefore provide a significant contribution to current scholarship in the area. Beginning by pointing out a contradiction in the intermediary premise concerning whether reason can influence action, or is wholly powerless, the book then moves on to draw out the consequences for recent meta-ethics of the failure to acknowledge this contradiction. Finally, Botros highlights the root of the arguments power in an article of naturalistic dogma. A significant and thought-provoking addition to this popular field of study, Hume,Reason and Morality is undoubtedly an important resource for moral philosophers interested in meta-ethics and practical reason, as well as Humean scholars.

Sophie Botros is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Acknowledgements	p. xi
List of Abbreviations	p. xii
Notes on the Text	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Hume's Practicality Argument
A Contradiction, Not an Ambiguity	p. 5
The formulations: Treatise 3.1.1:6-16	p. 5
Hume's theory of motivation	p. 11
Humean 'original existences' and the inertia of reason	p. 15
Validity and the 'Moderate' Version	p. 27
A requirement for validity	p. 27
Don't weaken the conclusion!	p. 29
'Sufficiency', 'intrinsicality' and the first premiss	p. 35
A defence through the second premiss must fail	p. 51
Mandatoriness	p. 55
A radical proposal	p. 59
Metaphysics and the 'Extreme' Version	p. 61
Cudworth and Clarke: reason mired	p. 62
The forbidden transition from 'is' to 'ought'	p. 72
'The relation and the will': reason's inertia again	p. 91
Sentimentalists, Secondary Qualities and Sensations	p. 96
Hutcheson's moral objectivism	p. 98
Hutcheson and Hume's 'wilful murder'	p. 105
Hutcheson, motivation and the practicality argument	p. 109
The Inconsolable Sceptic	p. 115
Reason: the three-fold division	p. 115
Belief, scepticism and the subversion of reason	p. 123
Seeds of the later contradiction	p. 140
The Practicality Argument Today
Morality's Dynamism	p. 145
'Moderate' and 'extreme' versions today	p. 145
The 'moderate' version: premiss 1	p. 148
Accidentalists embed morality in a social framework	p. 160
Conclusion	p. 164
Desires, Beliefs and 'Direction of Fit'	p. 165
Premiss 2 and desire-belief asymmetry	p. 165
Platts' normative account of direction of fit	p. 166
Anscombe and the shopping errand	p. 170
Smith's dispositional account of direction of fit	p. 174
A symmetrical as well as an asymmetrical relation	p. 176
A Riddle and a Buried Assumption	p. 179
Williams' example from Owen Wingrave	p. 179
Dispersal into accidentalism	p. 182
Dispersal into necessitarianism	p. 190
The Case of Owen Wingrave	p. 205
Williams, the 'extreme' version, and a dogma of naturalism	p. 205
Henry James and a literary defence of external reasons	p. 212
Sketch for a Wittgensteinian approach	p. 216
Final remarks	p. 224
Glossary	p. 225
Notes	p. 227
Bibliography	p. 241
Index	p. 246
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Hume, Reason and Morality: A Legacy of Contradiction

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials