Plato and Hume on morality
Society has had a major impact on my understanding of what is ethical and how people influence once understanding of morality. I have always been of the opinion that people’s moral actions are influenced by personal beliefs, experiences and the principles that people choose to abide to when building their self-identity. This is especially because, like most people, I have this desire to fit in to society and be considered one of the active members who actively influence the occurrences that take place in the world around me. As such, I try to ensure that my actions are a reflection of what I believe in as well as an indication of what I expect from the people I associate with on a regular basis. However, after reading Plato and Hume’s arguments on morality, it shifted my understanding of morals as something that is greatly influenced by the consequences that arise from an action as the doer of the act seeks to achieve a sense of self-fulfillment but on condition that the act does not have a negative outcome on other people.
According to Hume, people use both reason and their personal desires when deciding whether an act is moral or not. However, although reason is used to determine whether something is good or bad, Hume believes that the moral distinctions that govern an individual have little to do with reason but rather a product of moral sentiments like the feelings of approval or blame displayed by other people in society who are directly or indirectly affected by the individual’s actions (Korsgaard, 2009). People are greatly influenced by how others react to their actions or things they say. When considering whether an act is moral or not, people tend to focus more on how others will view an action than the impact the action will have on the individual. It is this desire to act in accordance to what is acceptable that Hume uses to explain how people go about understanding what is moral and what is unethical.
When people assess the morality of an action, they do so, both directly and indirectly, with consideration of whether they will be approved or disapproved by the people they impact. The approval or disapproval therefore acts as a cause that pushes people to act in accordance with the individuals evaluating of what consequences the subjects of the act will encounter and little attention to the individual’s self-interest (Bloomfield, 2008). Hume therefore views morality as an effect caused by people’s need for approval and immorality results from the disapproval demonstrated by other members of society who experience or witness the act engaged by an individual (Korsgaard, 2009). Although Hume suggests that moral standards are set by society’s understanding of right and wrong, as well as people’s desire to engage in a way that has a positive impact on others, people’s awareness of how people respond to other people’s actions also determines whether one will behave morally or not.
When people morally approve an act performed by someone, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude towards the individual because they are considered to be ethical. Before reading Hume’s argument on morality, I was of the opinion that people engage in moral acts because they do not intend to cause any harm or discomfort to others. Morality was therefore influenced by rational decisions influenced by my desire to do good not just for sake of doing good but also with the aim of causing the least hard to others (Vasiliou, 2016). Hume however suggests that self-fulfillment little impact on influencing moral actions because people are more influenced by the approval or disapproval that their actions trigger from members of society. Morality is therefore influenced by not just the act itself, but also by the emotion (approval or disapproval) it triggers from others.
Hume further believes that, for an act to be moral, it must fulfill specific major requirements. The act must be agreeable to the person engaging in it as well as to others who either witness or are affected by it. A moral act is therefore one where the person engaging in it believes that the act itself is moral and that anyone who is subjected to it will have the same opinion (Korsgaard, 2009). Morality is therefore determined not just by the doer as I thought but also by the people who experience it because they make up the society that sets up the criteria for determining right from wrong. Secondly, a moral act is one that is advantageous to the one who performs it and also the people who are impacted by it. The advantages that result from an act assert its morality because the positive gain caused by the advantages it creates help to classify it as a virtue (Freydberg, 2012). Immoral acts on the other hand are those that both the person who engages in them as well as the people they impact disagree with them; consider them as disadvantages; and therefore are vices in the eyes of society.
Plato further discredits my previous notion that morality is influenced by reason and personal desire by stating that in order to engage in moral acts, one either follows or sets aside personal interests with the aim of doing what is right rather than only doing what is rational. The act of setting aside one’s own interest is however dependent on other people’s willingness to do the same if it results in doing what is moral (Korsgaard, 2009). Since morality requires one to identify personal interests, it is also important to differentiate actual self-interest from perceived self-interests as this is the best way to differentiate morality from rationality. The perceived self-interests originate from people’s belief of what is best for the self while actual interests originate from requirements of justice that exist in society (Vasiliou, 2016). Plato further believes that the actual interests are an advantage rather than a hindrance to understanding morality because people find it more rational to pursue the apparent interests rather than the perceived ones. It is this understanding of perceived and actual interests that make it easier for people to differentiate moral acts from immoral ones.
Studying Plato’s moral philosophy further altered my moral outlook as I learnt that morality is not only determined by the nature of an action and its consequences but also by an individual’s desire to do right for the sake of doing right and being just for the sake of justice. Although Plato does state that morality is influenced by people’s self-interests as well as the desire for those actions to be accepted by others in society, he makes a strong argument advocating for morality to be influenced by the desire to be moral in its own without seeking self-fulfillment or approval from others (Korsgaard, 2009). From his argument, I leant that it is more important to do the right thing, not for the benefit and approval associated with being moral but solely for the sake of doing what is right with or without consequences of any kind. Morality should therefore be influenced by the desire to do what is right without the desire to achieve any gratification from society or to fulfill a personal interest but rather to do what is right for the sake of being right.
Before reading Plato and Hume’s work, I thought that moral acts are based on the decisions that people make based on their personal interests and experiences. I was of the opinion that the decision to do right or wrong results from people’s decision with the aim of achieving a personal goal. However, Hume taught me that morality is not only about fulfilling ones self-interests but also about engaging in actions that do not affect others negatively. Plato added on to this by stating that people should not only engage in moral acts for the advantages they bring but also for the sake of doing what is right. Other than seeking personal satisfaction and getting the approval of others, people’s actions should be moral because it is the right thing to do regardless of the consequences. It is therefore important to know when to use reason and apply it in a way that helps to identify perceived interests from actual interests. Once identified, the next step is to analyze the planned action to determine what consequences will result if it is implemented. Lastly, people should strive to be moral regardless of the consequences simply because being moral for the sake of morality is the best approach to maintain a society that runs on ethics and morals.
References
Bloomfield, P. (2008). Morality and self-interest. Oxford [etc.: Oxford University Press.
Freydberg, B. (2012). David Hume: Platonic philosopher, continental ancestor. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Korsgaard, C. M. (2009). Self-constitution: Agency, identity, and integrity. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Vasiliou, I. (2016). Moral motivation: A history. New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press.
