Hume Vs. Kant: The Nature Of Morality

From the origin of Western philosophical thought, there has always been an interest in moral laws . As Hume points out in A Treatise of Human Nature, ¡§morality is a subject that interests us above all others.¡¨ Originally, thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying life with ¡§virtue governing one¡¦s relations to others¡¨, as written by J. B. Schneewind in Modern Moral Philosophy. Nevertheless, the view that there is one way to live that is best for everyone and the view that morality is determined by God came to be questioned, and it is this that led to the emergence of modern moral philosophy.
Moral debates continued to see good as merely that which gives happiness or pleasure. Schneewind wrote ¡§what we ought to do is always a function of what it would be good to bring about: action can only be right because it produces good.¡¨ It was the departure from this idea that was perhaps the most important aspect of the works of both Immanuel Kant and David Hume. Each put forward a morality that does not require a higher being or god for a man to recognize his moral duty.
Hume¡¦s moral theory arose out of his belief that reason alone can never cause action. Hume proclaimed virtue is always accompanied by a feeling of pleasure and correspondingly vice by a bad feeling or pain. We are compelled to commit a virtuous action because it creates pleasant feelings and we avoid doing a vicious act because it would cause pain. This moral theory is, therefore, a virtue-centered morality rather than the natural-law morality, which saw morality as coming from God.
Hume believed there to be two types of virtues: artificial and natural. Artificial virtues are qualities that society molds into its citizens. It includes such things as justice, chastity, allegiance and obeying laws. On the other hand, more supererogatory virtues are classified as natural. Friendship, benevolence, meekness, charity, good humor and generosity are all part of...