Book 3: Of Morals

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Book 3: Of Morals is the section of David Hume’s *A Treatise of Human Nature* in which he develops his influential account of ethics, including the role of sentiment in moral judgment.

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Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf part of philosophical treatise
philosophical book section
author David Hume
canonicalStatus foundational text of sentimentalist moral theory
major work in the history of ethics
countryOfOrigin Scotland
developsConcept artificial virtues
justice as an artificial virtue
moral approval and disapproval
moral sentiment
natural virtues
obligation
sympathy
genre ethics
moral philosophy
hasPart Section on justice and property
Section on the artificial virtues
Section on the natural virtues
Section on the origin of moral distinctions
influenced 19th-century moral philosophy
contemporary metaethics
later sentimentalist ethics
influencedBy Book 2: Of the Passions
early modern empiricism
language English
mainTopic artificial virtues
justice
moral judgment
moral sentiment
morality
natural virtues
virtue and vice
partOf A Treatise of Human Nature
philosophicalClaim justice arises from conventions that serve the public interest
moral evaluations express feelings of approval or disapproval
moral motivation depends on passion rather than reason
virtue is whatever is useful or agreeable to oneself or others
philosophicalTradition empiricism
sentimentalism
positionOnMorality moral distinctions are derived from sentiment
positionOnReason reason alone cannot motivate moral action
reason is the slave of the passions
publicationCentury 18th century
relatedWork An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
workIn early modern philosophy

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Book 2: Of the Passions followedBy Book 3: Of Morals
A Treatise of Human Nature hasPart Book 3: Of Morals