Hume: Passion And Reason

Abstract To attack views that connect nature, reason, and morality, Hume relies on his account of passion, practical reason, and their relation. He sets out his account of the passions in Book ii of the Treatise, before the chapter ‘Of the Influencing Motives of the Will’ (ii 3.3), which describes the roles of passion and practical reason. This account of the passions influences his discussion both of practical reason and of moral judgment. A comparison with Aquinas’ account of the passions, on the one hand, and with Hobbes’s account, on the other, highlights Hume’s distinctive claims about the passions.