An Inquiry Concerning The Validity Of Hume’s Sympathy Principle

Based on the division of impressions and ideas,Hume constructed a perception-passion system in which perception provides basic material and passion makes moral judgments.The double-relation between the idea of self and indirect passions not only ensures the identity of self but also clarifies the connotation of the idea of self: Because of its association with the idea of the self,the idea of things related to the self is endowed by imagination with the vivacity of the self,enliven ideas into indirect passion;When the self is the object of the passion,the passion confirms the existence of the self and produces the self.It can also be said that part of the self exists in ideas,but the shape of the self is specifically illuminated by the passion.Constant idea of self enables people to make reliable judgment.Through the evaluation of subjective axiology and the response to objective axiology,the validity of Hume’s argument of taking pleasure as the value judgment standard is illustrated and verified: Reflection on Mill’s and Bentham’s Hedonic shows that qualitative and quantitative criteria are not necessary for subjective axiology that takes pleasure as the source of value;Reflection on Pure Hedonic illustrates the difference between indirect passion and direct passion or desire;The response to objective axiology shows that good derived from objective things is unconvincing and easily slip into the abyss of“no moral standards”.With regard to the mechanism of sympathy that makes a common moral life possible,it operates as follows: Extrinsic explicit signs such as facial expression and behavior act on the perception system.In combination with the reflection of their own past experience in their mind,people infer the emotion that others are experiencing at the moment.Then,the attention to themselves brings a strong vividness to this idea or impression,so that it can be restored to our current emotion.This mechanism has four main points of operation: First,sympathy produces emotions that have been experienced;Second,sympathy is limited by resemblance,contiguity and cause-and-effect;Third,we have an “extensive sympathy” that can ignore personal relationships;Fourth,the recognition of the limited generosity of individuals,combined with the rational summary and reflection of experience,the general points of view makes the extensive sympathy more accurately reflect the feelings of others and the social utility.Before the explanation of the principle of justice,it reflects on the problems that individual differences may pose to the argument of the sympathy principle and concludes that these problems do not affect the overall rationality.Then,in the explanation of the principle of justice,the problem of the conflict between self-interest and public utility is resolved: public utility are more pleasurable than self-interest,sympathy and the general points of view play a part in this;Reflection on the beneficial utility that justice brings is the only basis for the value of justice.The principle of justice,which is not necessary or natural,exists to limit self-interest that threatens the foundation of society.The rational man,on reflection,would understand that more pleasure can be gained from public utility by restraining the limitless expansion of self-interested feelings.Finally,it responds to Mac Intyre’s and Rawls’ criticisms of sentimentalism and utilitarianism respectively,which further proves the effectiveness of the sympathy principle.Mc Intyre thinks moral crisis is inevitable outcome caused by the moral disagreement,and sentimentalism denied the existence of objective moral standards,made moral judgments as to express some kind of emotions or hobbies and escaped the conflict between individuality and sociality.The advocation of moral individuality and the evasion of moral sociality make the phenomenon of moral disagreement more frequent.A response can be made from Hume’s sentimentalism: preference and moral judgment are fundamentally the same,they are both an expression of emotion,but moral judgment belongs to the one that seeks identification in emotional expression.Sympathy enables people to understand others’ feelings and enables the social identification related to moral judgment to be achieved.Rawls believed that utilitarianism would inevitably damage the rights and interests of some people,and that justice as a deontology could not be derived from utilitarianism,a consequentialism without a certain consequence.There was no utilitarianism that was completely altruistic.Responses to Rawls’ critique: Individual interests in conflict with public utility are not reasonable interests to be protected.Utilitarianism,which aims at pleasure,relies on public utility to determine the good without contradiction.Utilitarianism is not completely altruistic,and any utility that makes us happy causes emotions because it is closely related to the self.