Hume Morality based on Sympathy & Mirror Neurons?

Should you think about your duty, or about the consequences of your actions? Or should you concentrate on becoming a good person?

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Post Reply
Veritas Aequitas
Posts: 12247
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:41 am

Hume Morality based on Sympathy & Mirror Neurons?

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

Here is Hume's relation of Sympathy {Empathy] with Morality, thus mirror neurons;
Hume identifies “sympathy” as the capacity that makes moral evaluation possible by allowing us to take an interest in the public good (T 3.3.1.9).
Because of the central role that sympathy plays in Hume’s moral theory, his account of sympathy deserves further attention. Hume tells us that sympathy is the human capacity to “receive” the feelings and beliefs of other people (T 2.1.11.2). That is, it is the process by which we experience what others are feeling and thinking.
https://iep.utm.edu/humemora/
Because Hume was historically ignorant of Mirror Neurons, Hume speculated the following;
That is, it is the process by which we experience what others are feeling and thinking. This process begins by forming an idea of what another person is experiencing. This idea might be formed through observing the effects of another’s feeling (T 2.1.11.3). For instance, from my observation that another person is smiling, and my prior knowledge that smiling is associated with happiness, I form an idea of the other’s happiness.
My idea of another’s emotion can also be formed prior to the other person feeling the emotion. This occurs through observing the usual causes of that emotion.
Hume provides the example of someone who observes surgical instruments being prepared for a painful operation. He notes that this person would feel terrified for the person about to suffer through the operation even though the operation had not yet begun (T 3.3.1.7).
This is because the observer already established a prior mental association between surgical instruments and pain.
https://iep.utm.edu/humemora/
But now we have the physical referent, the Mirror Neurons as a matter of fact that represent the mechanics of sympathy [Empathy].

Since for Hume [if he was not ignorant of factual mirror neurons],
1. morality is related to sympathy [Empathy]
2. Empathy is justified by the fact of mirror neurons,
3. therefore there are moral facts as a matter of fact [the factual mirror neurons].

This factual moral fact of mirror neurons and the moral potential are not moral evaluations and moral opinions but real physical matter of fact that is related to empathy, thus morality.
Veritas Aequitas
Posts: 12247
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:41 am

Re: Hume Morality based on Sympathy & Mirror Neurons?

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

Note also;

Mirror Neurons and Moral Oughtness
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=34812
Iwannaplato
Posts: 6592
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:55 pm

Re: Hume Morality based on Sympathy & Mirror Neurons?

Post by Iwannaplato »

Veritas Aequitas wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 6:55 am Since for Hume [if he was not ignorant of factual mirror neurons],
1. morality is related to sympathy [Empathy]
2. Empathy is justified by the fact of mirror neurons,
3. therefore there are moral facts as a matter of fact [the factual mirror neurons].

This factual moral fact of mirror neurons and the moral potential are not moral evaluations and moral opinions but real physical matter of fact that is related to empathy, thus morality.
Of course many moralities are related to empathy, just as they are to other facets of our nature. We make moralities. They are products of human minds. This does not make the moralities facts. It is a fact that there are moralities. It is a fact, I would argue, that things like innate tendencies towards empathy lead to the way we construct moralities. However this does not make our constructions objective moral.

We also create poetry. We are also hardwired (hate that metaphor) to like poetry.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/ ... -brain.htm
It is a fact that humans create poetry.
But our poetry need not at all be factual.

A constant stream of category error.
Just because we find out that our brains are such that certain reactions or behavior is somewhat universal (and that is still up in the air) does not mean that the morals based on these reactions is objectively moral.

But Veritas will just keep creating new threads and filling the forum with more noise. Because he cannot actually deal with the objections in each thread. So, he creates a new thread and restates the same topics from his other threads.

This proclaiming in threads is much more visible. New Thread - Proclamation.

A rude and really quite likely a limbically driven pattern.
Post Reply