ABSTRACT

Recent work at the intersection of moral philosophy and the philosophy of psychology has dealt mostly with Aristotelian virtue ethics. The dearth of scholarship that engages with Hume’s moral philosophy, however, is both noticeable and peculiar. Hume's Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Psychology demonstrates how Hume’s moral philosophy comports with recent work from the empirical sciences and moral psychology. It shows how contemporary work in virtue ethics has much stronger similarities to the metaphysically thin conception of human nature that Hume developed, rather than the metaphysically thick conception of human nature that Aristotle espoused. It also reveals how contemporary work in moral motivation and moral epistemology has strong affinities with themes in Hume’s sympathetic sentimentalism.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

Hume’s Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Psychology: An Overview

chapter 1|31 pages

Beyond the “Disease of the Learned”

Hume on Passional Disorders

chapter 2|23 pages

Hume on the Rarity of Virtue

chapter 4|24 pages

Character, Culture, and Humean Virtue Ethics

Insights From Situationism and Confucianism

chapter 5|27 pages

Empathy, Autism, and Hume

chapter 6|28 pages

Cultivating Empathic Concern and Altruistic Motivation

Insights From Hume and Batson

chapter 7|21 pages

Preserving Practicality

In Defense of Hume’s Sympathy-Based Ethics

chapter 9|18 pages

Empathy, Interdependency, and Morality

Building From Hume’s Account

chapter 12|24 pages

Hume on Moral Motivation

chapter 14|23 pages

Hume on Affective Leadership

chapter |11 pages

Conclusion

Hume’s Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Psychology: Future Directions