Page 12 - GALIET THE HEROIC SPECTACLE OF MORALS: Hume IV

Galiet & Galiet
Hobbes, Curley adds, also accepts rare instances of selfless generosity and dutiful actions; however, he esteems them far too insignificant to impact political theory.
Four Arguments against Egoism.23 Hume scorns. Since universal sentiments of natural affection, sympathy and regard for others cannot be explained by egoism, Hume refutes egoism’s possibility to ground morals, by empirically arguing, four-fold, that:
First. Deeds occuring anytime and anywhere are often praised, though they be far removed from our self- interest.
Second. Noble deeds of adversaries are often admired, though they be potentially pernicious to our self-interest.
Third. Generous contributions to our self-interest are fervently praised.
Fourth. The virtue of an enemy pleases and is often exalted.
The Crucial Experiment. Hume tests. Given our private and social interdependence 3⁄4 these very threads of self woven into the vast tapestry of society 3⁄4 Hume excuses the dawn of philosophical chaos from its assumptions that our concern for humanity is a mere modification of the principle of self-love. By alluding to his four-fold observations to quell doubts and ambiguities, he conjures up a crucial experiment24 to decide between egoism and altruism’s competing hypotheses. “We have found instances, in which private interest was separate from public...,”25 Hume decants. For instance, “a generous, a brave, a noble deed performed by an adversary commands our approbation while its consequences may be prejudicial to our interest.”26 Not only does Hume discover, by this method, that, frequently, there is no coincidence between egoism and altruism, but that even in some cases, there exists a contradiction between them.
When we act voluntarily, we are choosing what at the moment we most desire and, whatever that may be, that will be what at that moment we take to be our own good. Hobbes’ definitions deliberately make egoism a tautology. But he thinks his choice apt because he thinks the total theory in which the definnitions are embedded has pragmatic advantages.” XV-XVI.
23 Section 5. 258-259
24 Baconian method of experimentation: that is, to look for facts that contradict eogist theory as the origin of moral valuation.
25 Ibid. 5.17.
26 Ibid. 5.8.
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