A Treatise Of Human Nature - 1562 Words

In the third instalment of his famous thesis; A Treatise of Human Nature; Of Morals, David Hume determines that morality is a character trait approved independently of social conventions. He goes on to conclude that morals cannot be derived from reason when reason is inert, and can neither prevent nor produce action or affection. Hamlet (1602), Frankenstein (1823) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) are all consumed by the innate passion that Hume defines as ‘morality’, yet pivot around the social conventions of their respective eras, broadly identified as ‘reason’. While Hamlet is embodied by his tendency to reason and rationality, Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray’s conformity to the values of their era functions to illuminate the irrationality of their actions. Hamlet, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray are all protagonists who grapple with the juxtaposition of morality and the values which are outlined by their respective eras as ‘reason’. Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, for example, is a character consumed by the conflict between the aesthetic values that were intrinsic to the Fin de Sià ¨cle, and morality. Indeed, aestheticism offers no distinction between moral and immoral acts, tending explicitly to the pursuit of pleasure. This is demonstrated in Dorian’s superficial relationship with Sibyl Vane. Dorian’s description of his infatuation with Sibyl, ‘I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realised the dreams of great poetsShow MoreRelatedA Treatise Of Human Nature By David Hume1472 Words   |  6 PagesUp until the time when William Blake, William Wordsworth, and David Hume put pen to paper, the most revolutionary lines of thought regarding science and ph ilosophy came from Isaac Newton and John Locke who described humans as passive receivers of a world of set laws ruling passive atoms. Hume pushes this popular understanding of the self to the brink and ends up claiming that one can never comprehend the self. Blake and Wordsworth both vehemently disagree with Hume and believe the self is knowableRead MoreDavid Hume s A Treatise Of Human Nature907 Words   |  4 PagesThe argument I shall address for this paper is found on page 385, from David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature. In Book 1, he takes a skeptic view on the philosophy of personal identity by making the claim that there is no such thing as a self. According to Hume, for there to be a self it must be constant and stable, yet all of our knowledge comes from ‘impressions’ (perceptions that come from sensory experience) that are only fleeting: â€Å"pain and pleasure, grief and joy, passions and sensations succeedRead MoreJohn Locke s Two Treatises Of Gov ernment1345 Words   |  6 PagesInstructor: JC Boucher Date: 24 November 2016 Assignment John Locke’s Two Treatises Of Government Most scholarship that links John Locke’s ideas with eighteenth- century representations of childhood approaches children as Lockean pedagogic subjects ready for moral and intellectual education. My essay instead brings to bear on representation of children Locke the political thinker, who articulates in Two Treatises of Government (1689) a person’s right to â€Å"liberty and property.† Locke’sRead MoreBenjamin Franklin And His Life1281 Words   |  6 Pagesin his life. After he graduated from Westminster, he continued his studies at the Christ Church in Oxford. Locke was very successful at Oxford, and later got his undergraduate degree. One of Locke’s important works was the Essays on the Law of Nature, which his teachings helped him develop this work. Most of Lock’s time at Oxford was spent studying natural philosophy and medicine. John then left Oxford and headed to London in 1667, where he had settled with the Anthony Ashle y Cooper family.Read MoreEssay On the Obligation to Keep One’s Promises1395 Words   |  6 Pagesdifferent way than Kant. In his Treatise of Human Nature, Hume devotes an entire subsection to the issue. He enters his discussion by attempting to define what exactly a promise is, and what motivates people to keep it. Hume begins by stating what a promise is not. â€Å"A promise is not intelligible naturally, nor antecedent to human conventions; and that a man, unacquainted with society, could never enter into any engagements with another.† (Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, pg516)2. More specificallyRead MoreAnalysis Of Aristotle s The Leviathan Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pagesonce wrote in his novel Politics, â€Å"Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. † (Aristotle 4) Dating back to Ancient Greece, the state of nature has been observed and disputed for centuriesRead MoreNiccolo Machiavelli s The Prince1699 Words   |  7 Pagesperceived more as derisive description than an accurate representation of that person’s philosophical views of power. This popular depiction is due to Niccolo Machiavelli’s harsh portrayal of the interlaced relationship between power and politics in his treatise, The Prince. Machiavelli begins his work by contending that it is â€Å"more effective† to reveal the â€Å"practical truth of a subject† rather than â€Å"depend on [his] fancies for it†(Machiavelli 2524). His rejection of idealism and focus on realism impelsRead MoreJohn Locke: Founding Father of Modern Era Liberalism1444 Words   |  6 Pagesphilosopher’s ideology, we can identify which thinke r’s theory reflected modern era liberalism the most. For this paper I will be arguing that, John Locke provides a more compelling framework of modern era liberalism because of his perception of the state of nature, the social contract and the function of government. Before explaining how Locke’s philosophy reflects modern liberalism, it is important to first understand the characteristics that make up modern liberalism. Modern era liberalism stresses theRead MoreEssay about The Role of Property598 Words   |  3 PagesThe Role of Property In the seventeenth-century, England was recovering from the Glorious Revolution and political thought centered on the issues of nature and the limits of government. Two great political thinkers, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes took a scientific approach to analyze government and focused on the state of nature and natural rights of individuals. Locke was particularly interested in property and governments role in the protection of property. He believed that God gave theRead MoreCompare and Contrast Hobbes’s and Locke’s Views of the State of Nature and the Fundamental Purpose of Political Society. Whose View Is the More Plausible? Why?1564 Words   |  7 PagesCompare and contrast Hobbes’s and Locke’s views of the state of nature and the fundamental purpose of political society. Whose view is the more plausible? Why? Introduction Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were both natural law theorists and social contracts theorists. While most natural law theorists have predominantly been of the opinion that humans are social animals by nature, Locke and Hobbes had a different perspective. Their points of view were remarkably different from those