David Hume And Ethical Altruism

Altruism theory can basically be defined as an act that an individual performs, in order to benefit someone else. Altruism can also be known as Ethical Altruism. Furthermore, this specific theory speaks about the outstanding deeds that an individual would undertake to help and benefit someone else, even if it requires the sacrifice of self-interest. The action that the individual would tackle would be considered morally right as the result would benefit the recipient than the person actually conducting the action (Mastin, 2008). Majority of the time these actions that are performed by individuals are not only about doing good for others but also to protect them from being harm or getting injured in a certain situation (Rational Wiki,

Hume is known for his dominant systems of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. David Hume considered his self to be a moralist. Moralist, however, can be considered as a person that teaches or promotes morality (Britannica, 2017). David views on Altruism and Self-interest was that we as humans care about the welfare of our-self more than his care about others. Simply addressing that we as humans are selfish but it is simply a part of nature. He also stated that we have social sentiments, which basically means a particular feeling that connects us to care about others

However, when approaching the terminal in Mango Creek; a school is located across the street from the terminal. When it is time for the students to go home and a bus is arriving, the bus driver would approach the terminal slowly; being extra cautious because he notices that they are children walking home from school and he wouldn’t want to injure anyone of them. The driver does this act simply because he cares about the welfare of the students (Kraut, 2016) Altruism is often performed from a mixture of motives, some of which are self-interested. Self-interest, however, has to do with one’s personal interest. It is the fact that an individual would do a certain act or apply a behavior that it is solely by the desire to benefit him or herself (Merriam-Webster, 2017). This theory suggests that even if there are objective moral values, a large percent of the population are incapable of living up to them. While Altruism is a moral behavior, self-interest can be seen as the opposite. To conclude Altruism and self- Interest view by David Hume is that by doing good deeds we can measure the right and wrong by “the true interests of mankind”. It is a process of nature to care about our self he added, but we also have a connection with others; which allows us to care about