University of Kansas, Fall 2002
Philosophy 672: History of Ethics
Ben Eggleston

Test Questions / Paper Topics—Hume

Your assignment is either to take the test on Hume’s Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals or to write a paper on that book. Note that, by the end of the semester, you must have taken tests on two of the four books in the course, and written papers on the other two. Following are details of the two options for Hume’s second Enquiry.

I. Test

The test will be given on class on Wednesday, November 20, and will consist of 100 points’ worth of the following questions. There may also be a bonus question or two, not listed here.

  1. (20 points:) A crucial fact about Hume’s project is that it is essentially descriptive rather than prescriptive. What does Hume aim to provide, in the Enquiry, that makes his project a descriptive one; and what is largely lacking from the Enquiry, as a result of which it is not prescriptive (in contrast to, say, Mill’s Utilitarianism and Kant’s Groundwork)?
  2. (10 points:) What is the interest, to philosophers, of the question of whether moral judgments are based entirely on reason or at least partly on sentiment?
  3. (20 points:) One of Hume’s arguments against rationalism in ethics is based on his view about what sorts of operations the faculty of the understanding is capable of carrying out. What operations did Hume think the understanding to be capable of, and how (according to Hume) are these not enough for the making of moral judgments?
  4. (10 points:) What does Hume mean when he refers (in A1.21) to the “productive faculty” that taste has?
  5. (10 points:) What does Hume mean when he says (in A1.21) that the standard of taste “aris[es] from the internal frame and constitution of animals”?
  6. (20 points:) Some of Hume’s contemporaries claimed that people are motivated entirely by self-interest—a claim that can be taken in at least two ways. How can Hume be read as claiming that in one sense, this claim is false, and that in another sense, it’s possibly true but essentially trivial?
  7. (10 points:) How would it undermine Hume’s examination of the virtues if it turned out that, as many of Hume’s contemporaries claimed, people are motivated entirely by self-interest?
  8. (20 points:) What does Hume mean in calling justice a “jealous virtue”? What does Hume regard as the circumstances of justice, and how does his characterization of the circumstances of justice clarify his characterization of justice as a “jealous virtue”?
  9. (10 points:) According to Hume, we can stand in a relation of justice or injustice to others only if they are capable of “mak[ing] us feel the effects of their resentment” (3.18). What does Hume mean by this, and what would be an example of a pair of individuals who cannot (according to Hume) stand in a relation of justice or injustice to one another?
  10. (20 points:) At the beginning of part 2 of section 3 (in 3.23–28), Hume mentions some conceptions of justice that are alternatives to the conception of justice that actually prevails in most societies, and he claims that although the former may intuitively seem preferable, the prevalence of the latter is explained by its superior usefulness. What are the alternative conceptions of justice that Hume mentions (I’m looking for two), and why (according to Hume) would these be less useful, in practice, than the conception of justice that is actually in use?
  11. (10 points:) What is the difference between natural virtues and artificial virtues, and why is justice among the latter?
  12. (20 points:) A crucial concept in Hume’s account of the virtues of the concept of sympathy. What does he mean by sympathy, and in what way does it provide a unified foundation for Hume’s several accounts of why various character traits are regarded as virtues?
  13. (10 points:) Hume speaks of judgment correcting appearances, both in non-moral matters and in moral matters. What does Hume mean by this, and how does this phenomenon of correction reveal that moral assessment proceeds from a perspective or vantage point that is different from the perspective of personal opinion or personal preference?
  14. (10 points:) In part 2 of section 9, Hume addresses the question of whether it can be shown to be in one’s interest to be moral. What is his answer?
  15. (20 points:) In order to rebut the accusation that he regards, as virtues and vices, things that are really just talents and faults (and not virtues and vices), Hume considers several ways of drawing the distinction between virtues and vices, on the one hand, and talents and faults, on the other, and finds them all to be inadequate. What are some (at least three) of the ways of drawing this distinction that Hume considers, and what are his reasons for rejecting each of them?

II. Paper

The paper option is to write a paper of not more than 6 pages (double-spaced, 12-point type) on either (1) one of the following topics or (2) some other topic that you would like to propose to me (in which case, just let me know, and we can discuss it). Your paper will be due in class on Friday, November 22.

  1. Question 3, above (to be answered in a more comprehensive, detailed, and text-grounded way, of course)
  2. Question 6, above (to be answered in a more comprehensive, detailed, and text-grounded way, of course)
  3. Question 8, above (to be answered in a more comprehensive, detailed, and text-grounded way, of course)
  4. Question 10, above, plus: What, aside from the (actual and possible) conceptions of justice that Hume considers, is the most useful conception of justice that you can think of? (Be sure to be clear in characterizing it, especially if it’s an idea that a reader of your paper may never have entertained before.) Would it, in your view, be more or less useful than the conception of justice that Hume regards as the most useful one? (Be sure to give reasons for your assessment.)
  5. Question 15, above, plus: What, aside from the ways of drawing this distinction that Hume considered, is the most plausible way of drawing this distinction that you can think of? (Be sure to be clear in characterizing it, especially if it’s an idea that a reader of your paper may never have entertained before.) Would it, in your view, withstand a critique from Hume, or could Hume refute it? (Be sure to give reasons for your verdict.)

In writing your paper you are welcome to use resources beyond those used in class, but you do not need to do so. For additional suggestions about writing philosophy papers generally, see my “Guidelines for Writing a Philosophy Paper.”