David Hume's Philosophy: Morality, Knowledge, and the Mind

Hume on Moral Emotivism: Feeling Over Reason

David Hume notes that one cannot rationally prove something is good or bad, because moral issues are not relevant to the understanding. Understanding, according to Hume, can only perform two operations: relating facts or ideas. If moral issues could be treated as relations of ideas, one would arrive at absurd conclusions. For example, describing the behavior of any human (rational or irrational) as good or bad, despite their very different purposes. That is, even a computer could evaluate whether actions are good or bad based on specific parameters.

If we treated moral issues as matters of fact, there would be nothing called good or bad, because the quality of good (or bad) does not inherently belong to things. Rather, we attribute these qualities based on our feelings when we are in contact with such things. In short, good or evil are only discovered when our inner self experiences a feeling of approval or reprobation towards an action. Therefore, moral issues do not depend on understanding but on feeling, leading to Hume's proposal of a morality based on emotions. This philosophical position is known as moral emotivism.

This feeling is one of moral approval towards actions. Factors that determine the adoption or rejection of an action are twofold: one part is pleasure, which regulates the operation of the passions, and the other is utility, not only for one's own interest but also for the benefit of others.

Hume's Theory of Knowledge: Empiricism and Ideas

Hume sought to develop his philosophical answers to fundamental questions about humanity and knowledge. He therefore agreed with postulates that would expand his philosophical production, among which are:

• All knowledge comes from experience (rejection of innatism).
• All reality must have a corresponding impression.
• All knowledge is a combination of ideas already present in the mind, which are caused by impressions.
• Knowledge aims to establish truth.

The Mind's Faculties: Relation and Imagination

The human mind is characterized by its ability to transform ideas into impressions, making them reappear in the mind, and especially to relate them. The mind's ability to relate ideas involves both relation (or understanding) and imagination.

The association of ideas depends on the imagination, which performs this task not randomly, but according to principles Hume described as "soft power," leading one idea naturally to approach another with similar qualities.

Principles of Idea Association

The associative qualities are:

• Similarity.
• Contiguity in space and/or time.
• Cause and effect.

Categories of Complex Ideas

From these associative qualities, our complex ideas derive, which Hume categorizes into:

• Ideas of Substance.
• Ideas of Mode.
• Ideas of Relations.

The latter are formed when our understanding analyzes and compares ideas, establishing judgments that go beyond immediate perception and organize our knowledge.