The Reason Is and Ought Only to Be the Slave of the Passions - Essay Example

Reason is and Ought Only to be the Slave of the Passions Roll No: Teacher: 7th October 2008 Explain what Humemeans by saying that ‘reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions’ and why he thinks this is so. Is he right? David Hume’s work, “A Treatise on Human Nature” is regarded as an influential work in the history of philosophy. David Hume wrote in his work, “A Treatise on Human Nature”, “reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions” (Hume 1888). Reason is attached to rationality. It is generally accepted that a human being is able to control his/her passions by means of reason or rationality but Hume negated this viewpoint by saying that reason is attached in a slave relationship with passions. According to Hume, reason is unable to control passions (Hume 1888). If reason can do anything, it is to do, as the passions of a person require him/her to do. According to Hume, whatever we do and act depends on our passions and not on the reason (Hume 1888). Hume does not mean that reason is aimless and does no job at all. Reason provides knowledge with which, passions and will get direction. Reason is there to guide us about how can we fulfil our passions (Hume 1888). Reason is only for judgement not for taking decisions. All the decisions are taken by passions of a human being and a human being acts according to his/her passions. According to Hume, reason cannot be only cause of any action of determination (Hume 1888). He also elaborates that reason is in position to combat with passion as it is enslaved by passions. The sentence, “reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions” means that reason is unable to become a cause of any action alone, it needs the companionship or in appropriate words, we can say, authority of passions with it to motivate an action. According to Hume, behind every action, there is a cause and effect theory and this theory only works when reason supports passion in motivating an action. In response to passion, there is an action, passion is the cause while action is the effect and reason is only there for helping with decision-making. Hume also negates the idea that reason plays any role in morality (Hume 1888). According to his ideology, a human being is activated only by means of his passions that keep a person in control and reason has no control over passions. Passions have enslaved reason and reason is employed to support passions (Hume 1888). Hume elaborates that immorality is not considered as immorality on the basis of reason but on the basis of our discontentment with an act (Hume 1888). According to Hume, passions have “original existence” (Hume 1888). Hume claims that reason is attached with ideas and copies of ideas are formed in mind while passions do not have any copies as they do not have any representative quality. He further adds that truth and reason are not in a position to oppose passion (Hume 1888). As passions have no representative quality, so, they cannot be evaluated by reason due to which, reason cannot control passions. Hume’s saying, “reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions”, is accepted and backed by Simon Blackburn. Simon Blackburn is known as a pro-Humeaen philosopher. In his book, Ruling Passions, he addresses the issue of reason and passions and present a theory related to quasi-realism. Simon Blackburn agrees to all the claims made by Hume in “A Treatise to Human Nature” by emphasizing that reason has no control over passions and it is passion that is in authority over reason. We are motivated to do an action not because of reason but because of ethics (Blackburn 1998). As far as I am concerned, I do not go with Hume’s theory. According to my perception, Reason, rationality and truth play an important role in our motivation of actions. If there is no motivation of reason, there will be no morality. It is only because of reason that we can differentiate between morality and immorality. Passions push us to towards doing different tasks but they are controlled by our reason. Reason is not enslaved by passions but passions are enslaved by reason. It is only because of reason and rationality that we are able to control our immoral wills. Reason distinguishes morality from immorality. Passions and reason go hand in hand towards the motivation of an activity. The age in which, David Hume presented his work, “A Treatise to Human Nature” was called the “Age of Reason” and all the writers and philosophers were working for the exploration of reason and rationality. For them reason and rationality was everything but for Hume reason played a role of adviser and not a decision maker. According to Hume, self-control is not possible because of reason and a person has his/her passions to do any activity (Hume 1888). Therefore, there is nothing to control self and a person is free but on the other hand, it is true that self-control is necessary to restrict passions and that is possible because of reason and rationality. It is clear that the statement made by Hume, “reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions” means that reason is only there to support passions in terms of making a decision. It is only passion that motivates a person to do an act and reason plays the role of a consultant and not of a determinant. Whatever we do or perform, it is only because of our passions and not because of reason. It is also informed by Hume that self-control is not achieved through reason. Reason cannot be in opposition to passion as it is enslaved by passion. In a person, passion is fully powerful while reason is only there to help in making judgements. According to my point of view, reason and rationality are significant in terms of self-control and morality. In the absence of motivation by reason, the existence of morality is impossible. Works Cited Hume, David. A Treatise on Human Nature. ed. L.A. Selby-Bigge. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888: 413-18, 462-3, 468-70. Blackburn, Simon. Ruling Passions: Self Control, Reason and Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Read More