20 July 2008

Hume: Relative Morality

David Hume, the 18th-century Scottish thinker known for his philosophical realism--

Morality is nothing in the abstract nature of things, but is entirely relative to the sentiment or mental taste of each particular being.

--Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding (London: Miller, 1748), 14. (Hume is relying on Francis Hutcheson when he makes the assertion)

One more indication that "postmodernism" is not as revolutionary as we've been taught.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I actually think this quote from Hume shows that a relativistic morality and/or epistemology is the natural end the aspects of modern philosophy. Of course, some who have taken part in the post-modern turn have picked up this relativity, but it seems to me that post-modernism gets blamed for what is the eventual end of the modern project.