ABSTRACT
Hume is renowned for saying that “reason is perfectly inert”: that reason alone, or of itself, is not a motive to the will. This chapter explains Hume’s general positions on which mental states move us to act and tries to resolve some controversies about the meaning of this famous claim about reason. It also shows the connection of this claim to Hume’s view that moral evaluation depends upon sentiment and not on reason alone, and considers some difficulties that arise in interpreting Hume’s inferences from the inertia of reason to his rejection of moral rationalism.
