Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:21:15.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The ontology of character traits in Hume

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Erin Frykholm
Erin Frykholm*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Kansas, 1445 Jayhawk Blvd., 3090 Wescoe Hall, Lawrence, KS66045, USA
*
*Email: frykholm@ku.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper argues that Hume can account for character traits as lasting mental qualities without violating his reductionist account of the mind as a changing bundle of ideas and impressions. It argues that a trait is a disposition to act according to certain passions or motivations, explained entirely with reference to the ideas and impressions constituting one's current self. This account is consistent with Hume's view of the mind, and relies solely on his accounts of the association of impressions and ideas, and of the relationship between belief and passion, to establish relations that can properly be called lasting mental qualities.

Keywords

Humean selfcharactermental qualitiesassociation of ideas
Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 42 , Issue S1: Hume in Alberta: Selected Papers from the 2012 Hume Conference in Calgary , February 2012 , pp. 82 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainslie, Donald 2007. “Character Traits and the Humean Approach to Ethics.” In Moral Psychology (Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities), edited by Tenenbaum, Sergio 79–110. New York: Rodopi.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baier, Annette 1991. A Progress of Sentiments. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bricke, John 1973. “Hume's Theories of Dispositional Properties.” American Philosophical Quarterly 10 (1): 15–23.Google Scholar
Bricke, John 1974. “Hume's Conception of Character.” Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 5: 107–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohon, Rachel 2008. Hume's Morality: Feeling and Fabrication. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dees, Richard H. 1997. “Hume on the Characters of Virtue.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 35 (1): 45–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doris, John 2002. Lack of Character. New York: Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, Gilbert 2000. “The Nonexistence of Character Traits.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 100: 223–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, Jane 1990. “Character: A Humean Account.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 72: 193–206.Google Scholar
Penelhum, Terrence 1975. Hume. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penelhum, Terrence 2009. “Hume's Moral Psychology.” In The Cambridge Companion to Hume, edited by Norton, David Fate 2nd ed., 238–269. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Purviance, Susan M. 1997. “The Moral Self and the Indirect Passions.” Hume Studies 23 (2): 195–212.Google Scholar
Radcliffe, Elizabeth S. 2007. “Moral Naturalism and the Possibility of Making Ourselves Better.” In Moral Cultivation: Essays on the Development of Character and Virtue, edited by Wilburn, Brad K. 101–124. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Bricke, John 1974. “Hume's Conception of Character.” Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 5: 107–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohon, Rachel 2008. Hume's Morality: Feeling and Fabrication. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dees, Richard H. 1997. “Hume on the Characters of Virtue.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 35 (1): 45–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doris, John 2002. Lack of Character. New York: Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, Gilbert 2000. “The Nonexistence of Character Traits.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 100: 223–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, Jane 1990. “Character: A Humean Account.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 72: 193–206.Google Scholar
Penelhum, Terrence 1975. Hume. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penelhum, Terrence 2009. “Hume's Moral Psychology.” In The Cambridge Companion to Hume, edited by Norton, David Fate 2nd ed., 238–269. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Purviance, Susan M. 1997. “The Moral Self and the Indirect Passions.” Hume Studies 23 (2): 195–212.Google Scholar
Radcliffe, Elizabeth S. 2007. “Moral Naturalism and the Possibility of Making Ourselves Better.” In Moral Cultivation: Essays on the Development of Character and Virtue, edited by Wilburn, Brad K. 101–124. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar