A Comparison Of Sympathy Theory Between Hume And Schopenhauer

Against the western rationalistic tradition, sympathy theory brings more possibilities to moral thinking. The important spokesmen, Hume and Schopenhauer, make a contribution to the development of this theory respectively.Hume and Schopenhauer are in different context of thought, but they reach the similar moral conclusions. On the basis of theory of human nature, they put sympathy in the center of moral philosophy. They argue against the dominance of reason, but they do not deny the function of reason. However, Hume is a mitigated skeptic, so he comprehends and explains the term "sympathy" in a psychologic way. And in ethics, he pays more attention on the problem of moral judgement. Schopenhauer is highly metaphysical in disposition. He emphasizes the moral significance of sympathy and explains it in metaphysical terms. In ethics, he focuses on the problem of the foundation of morality..It is Hume who explicitly gave sympathy a central role in moral philosophy for the first time in the history of moral philosophy. His psychological explanation is rich and full of tension. And Schopenhauer gives prominence to the part of Hume's theory which is called "fellow-feeling". The theoretical complexity is reduced, but his theory is more morally compelling. It is obvious that Hume and Schopenhauer respectively contribute to sympathy theory in terms of theoretical construction and moral construction.