Hume v. Kant - the Motivational Force of Reason

Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature is an attack on the rationalist view, and one of the main modes of thought of the Enlightenment, that reason motivates our actions. By “reason”, Hume means the capability of coming to know the truth. He distinguishes between two particular types of reason – demonstrative and causal. Demonstrative reasoning establishes truths founded on abstract associations among ideas, such as in equations (i.e. the Pythagorean theorem). Causal reasoning relates the associations of cause and effect between objects and occurrences. Each type of reasoning must have an intended purpose that results from desire – but reason alone cannot motivate our activity. It is here that Hume introduces the motivational role of passion, which is coupled with and is even more important than reason in his philosophy.

Hume argues that reason cannot be the sole motive of any action and that reason can never resist the motive of pas

Additionally, Hume strengthens his argument by writing that the passions cannot be subjected to reason because they are created within us and have no real representative existence. They cannot be true or false, nor can they conflict with any truths established by causal or demonstrative reasoning. In other words, the passions cannot be considered in rational terms. This effectively tightens Hume’s argument and allows him to proceed in proving that the passions are man’s motivating force.

sion. Indeed, he argues that, “Reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions” (415). Pain and pleasure are the causes of the passions that incite our actions. Hume believes that while we may use reason to understand the causes of pleasure or pain, it is the experiencing of the pleasure or pain, and not the reasoning about their causes or otherwise that motivates us to act. While it may seem that this leaves man to be guided by little more than the passions, Hume insists that there is a distinction between “calm passions” and “violent passions”. While it may seem here (as Kant would say) that reason is guiding us, it is not reason that overcomes passion as we are making good judgments, but a “calm passion” prevailing over a “violent passion” (418). According to Hume, reason is used only to understand the causes of a

While Hume and Kant differ in their ideas on the motivational role of reason, they do share s

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