PHIL 251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Egotism, Moral Realism
30 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Psychological egoism- actions are ultimately motivated by self-interested reason. Want to exercise influence over other people (desire for power) Desire for reputation (may be a form of power) Other regarding- motives for others: self-referential. David hume"s background: 1711-1776, 1751: the inquiry concerning principles of morals, worked during the enlightenment- scientific world view begins to be explored. Naturalism: everything is a natural object. Changes can be explained with causation: natural universe can be explained. It can be described with principles: humans are natural objects. Behaviors can be explained in naturalistic terms: there is no moral order or facts. Morality is explained as a social product. David hume"s ideas: morality is a product of human psychology. Naturalism vs natural law: natural law described everything, hume attempted to explain everything using naturalism. They often do not agree with what they are arguing about= irksome Hume"s is a moral realist- believes moral distinctions are real. Discusses opposites that people are capable of perceiving.
