Part 4: Hume's distinction between natural and artificial virtues

what are the 4 main ways natural and artificial virtues differ?

1. artificial values depend on the creation of social conventions

2. manifestations of natural virtues always result in some good

3. the motive to perform naturally virtuous actions makes those actions virtuous

4. natural virtues are partial and unequal

what type of virtue is justice?

artificial

what does justice constitute to hume?

justice involves not interfering with another’s property

what method does hume employ to show that justice is not a natural virtue?

reductio ad absurdum

describes the steps hume takes to disprove that justice is a natural virtue

1. consider justice as a natural virtue

2. that would make just actions naturally virtuous

3. naturally virtuous actions are made virtuous by its motive

4. just actions are therefore virtuous because of a virtuous motive

• but then we face the problem of circularity - looking at its motives, we have to assume that justice is originally virtuous

• and also, for justice to be a natural virtue, it would have to be partial and unequal, which contradicts the principle of justice itslef

5. there is no virtuous motive that makes just actions virtuous

   1. justice is not a natural virtue

explain the circularity argument against the natural virtue of justice

1. just actions are motivated by a virtuous motive, assuming it is a natural virtue

2. this virtuous motive is the ‘regard to the virtue of the action’, which is the sense of duty that leads to just actions

3. that sense of duty is virtuous because it has a virtuous motive

4. so what is that virtuous motive??

YOU ONLY ACT OUT OF VIRTUE IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THE ACTION IS VIRTUOUS

• returning money to someone is done because of honesty, and honesty is virtuous, but we must already recognise that honesty is a virtuous action - the recognition of virtue comes after that virtue exists

this does not explain what ORIGINALLY makes a just action virtuous.  It cannot be because the motive is virtuous, because that assumes that virtue already exists.


a mother does not out of parental love because she knows its a virtuous thing to do - but we act out of justice in the knowledge that that action is virtuous (this assumes that justice is originally virtuous when it isnt)

why can it be mistaken that hume contradicts himself regarding justice?

because he first rejects the ‘regard to the virtue of the action’ as a motive for just actions, and then later says that people CAN be motivated by a sense of duty

how does hume resolve this contradiction in justice?

by looking at two questions:
1. why does someone perform a just action
2. why is that motive morally virtuous

for natural virtues, the motive is the same as the source of the motive’s virtue.

for artificial virtues, it is different answers.

people act justly out of duty, but the virtuous nature of that sense of duty comes when you relate it to its social usefulness.

therefore, just actions can be motivated by a sense of duty, but it is not that sense of duty itself that is virtuous.

can any other natural motives explain the virtue of justice?

NO natural motive will explain the virtue of justice.

Hume rules out 1. self-interest, 2. private, and 3. public benevolence

E.g. if you borrow a stranger’s loudspeaker that they were about to annoy you and the public with after you gave it back, you would still give it back
BUT it would not be in your self interest, public interest, or private benevolence

how does sympathy relate to natural virtues?

Sympathy is the mechanism through which our passions can extend to any other human = it may make us more inclined to act out of natural virtue, but it does not provide impartiality as sympathy is always stronger when we relate to people.

how does hume show that justice is an artificial virtue?

he shows that certain conventions arise from humanity’s state of nature - and this happened when humans realised that it would be in all of their best interests individually to do so

those conventions are the object of moral approbation, which is what makes justice a virtue in the first place

explain the genealogy of justice

humans must exist in social groups to survive (unimpressive physical capabilities)
there are finite resources and humans are self-interested and limited in generosity
conflict is inevitable
justice is the solution to that problem

what are the circumstances of justice

1. outward circumstances - resources have to be both scarce and transferred easily from one person to another, such that one benefits and the other suffers

   1. natural temper - humans are partial - they are not entirely selfish but are more interested in their own wellbeing = we need justice

what is the golden age

when humans are universally benevolent, resources are abundant, and there are thereby no problems in which justice is neededwh

what is the conceptual problem

the idea of justice is impartial and equal
ideas come from impressions (copy principle)
but natural human impressions are partial and unequal
justice cannot have arisen out of natural human impressions

• what’s the missing impression? this is the question hume explores in his account of convention.

what is a convention?

a situation that arises between two or more people when several conditions are met

list the processes involved for there to be a convention

1. each party involved must understand that it is in each of their interests to coordinate their behaviour in accordance with a scheme of action

2. each party understands that so long as everyone else also coordinates their actions in accord with that scheme, it will be worthwhile for them personally

3. each party communicates this understanding

4. this then becomes common knowledge

   1. each party forms this resolution - an intention or decision - to act in accordance with that scheme, so long as everyone else does

what does hume say about the communication of common knowledge

it does not have to be explicit - either in formulation or as an explicit promise - Hume thinks promises are artificial anyway, because they can only exist once the structures of justice are in place = promises cannot be used to uphold justice

how do conventions relate to justice

Hume believes that eventually, such conventions build up into full sets of rules determining in a given society, what is or is not just.

How do conventions help us understand solutions to the conceptual problem

the conceptual problem found that there was a 'missing impression’ - that missing impression is the ‘suitable resolution’ which conventions of justice produce

• the suitable resolution would be the intention or the will to act in accordance with a scheme of action

how is justice moral? the moral beauty of justice…

1. justice promotes the public good

self interest is the original motive for conventions of justice

but those conventions benefit everyone involved

so when they are well established, they promote the public good

2. we feel pleasure when we see this public benefit

sympathy operates between an individual and a group (society) here

so when we see the effects of justice, through sympathy we emotionally resonate with the stability that society gains from them

this produces pleasure in us

when we take a ‘general view or survey’ (i.e. taking a broader, impartial perspective), that pleasurable sentiment leads to moral approbation

without sympathy, justice would not appear morally virtuous

artificial virtues do not always bring about good; so what if just actions do not accord with public interest? do those actions also receive moral approbation?

yes but indirectly

hume does not morally evaluate actions

• we can only say something about the morality of the motive

• or the character of the person acting

BUT with any just action, the motive will still be to accord with the conventions of justice = the action was intended to benefit everyone impartially

= they do become the subject of moral approbation