David Hume: Morality And Sympathy

Morality, sentimentality, and rational evaluation are some of the thrusts of enlightenment philosophy of sympathy. The first notable philosopher is David Hume who places the spotlight on moral appraisal.

2.3.1 David Hume
Appraisal turns out to be the keyword in David Hume’s concept of sympathy. In An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, he places emphasis on appraisal which, according to him, is a passion of settled principle of action where motive is the reason and the action is result. But an action can never be the object of moral approval or disapproval; it is only the agent’s motive or character that can be the object of moral evaluation. At the same time, Hume also establishes a connection between one’s sympathy with the feelings of pleasure and pain, which an action or its motive requires. By the nature and force of sympathy, a representative's motive, producing pleasure is approved while pain is disapproved.
The approval or disapproval lies at the heart of moral evaluation. Hume argues that it is sympathy which arouses moral sentiments. The arousal, according to Hume, is “supposed to lie in the usefulness of any quality or action, it is evident that

However, here it must be mentioned that David Hume’s reputation as a philosopher rests less on an apologist for feeling and more as an opponent of the moral power of reason, famously summarized in the claim that “reason is the slave of the passions” (Hardin, 2007, p. 25). Hume gives emphasis mainly on the psychological phenomenon of sympathy or a specific faculty of emotional communication that leads to the birth of humanity or