David Hume: a Treatise Concerning Human Nature and an Enquiry

David Hume: A Treatise Concerning Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
In his Treatise Concerning Human Nature, Hume argues that morality is based not in reason, but in moral sentiments of approval and disapproval. According to Hume, reason can only serve two functions: It can investigate matters of fact, or it can examine the relationships between ideas. In either case, the verdicts of reason are "cool and disengaged" in that they do not motivate us to action. Moral judgments, on the other hand, are practical and do motivate us to behave in certain ways. Therefore, Hume concludes, moral judgments cannot be verdicts of reason. Instead, Hume claims that moral judgments are ultimately rooted in our passions, so that "when you pronounce any action or character to be vicious, you mean nothing, but that from the constitution of your nature you have a feeling or sentiment of blame from the contemplation of it."
Hume further develops this account in his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, in which he discusses a number of different virtues. Benevolence, he claims, is the most widely praised of all virtues, and is valuable for its own sake. Justice, in contrast, is a virtue that arises only in particular circumstances-those of moderate scarcity, and the rough equality of persons-and is valuable not for its own sake but only for the sake of the utility it brings about. Hume maintains that the ultimate sanction of these virtues is not their intrinsic natures, but rather "some internal sense or feeling, which nature has made universal in the whole species." Although reason might be crucial in determining which actions will be best suited to our ends, Hume claims that it is only our passions that can determine which ends are themselves worth pursuing. In this sense, as Hume declared in the Treatise, "Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them."
-Hume defines virtue as:

A) a tendency to maximize happiness.
B) a tendency to pursue justice.
C) whatever mental action or quality gives a spectator a sentiment of approbation.
D) whatever mental action or quality brings about the best consequences for all.