Contrasting Ethical Frameworks: Hume vs. Kant

Posted on Apr 1, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Comparison of Hume’s and Kant’s Ethics

Summary of Similarities

Both philosophers reject moral relativism and believe in a universal, suprasocial morality.

• Hume argues that moral feelings are common to all humans.
• Kant, like rationalists, believed that practical reason allows humans to distinguish good from evil. He posited a universal moral law accessible to all through reason, formalized in his categorical imperative. This imperative dictates that actions should be universalizable and treat individuals as ends in themselves.

Summary of Disputes

Despite their shared belief in universal morality, Hume and Kant differ significantly in their foundations of ethics.

• Hume argues that morality is based on sentiment, not reason. He rejects grounding morality in reason or a transcendent God, claiming it leads to a naturalistic fallacy—confusing what is with what ought to be.
• Kant, influenced by Hume’s critique of reason, agrees that theoretical reason cannot determine morality. However, he argues for practical reason’s role in moral decisions. Theoretical reason describes how things are, while practical reason dictates how they should be.
• Kant addresses the circularity of reason-based morality by proposing a formal, not material, ethics. His ethics doesn’t define specific goods but outlines how to act in any situation.
• Hume contends that reason cannot explain our pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain. Passion or sentiment, not reason, motivates us. Moral judgments aim to guide actions, a function reason cannot fulfill.
• Hume rejects reason as the basis of ethics because it cannot compel action. Goodness or badness is not a perceived fact or rational knowledge, as moral judgments can vary.
• Hume’s morality depends on passions and predispositions, while Kant’s formal ethics disregards desires. Kant believes only actions motivated by respect for moral law, not inclinations or utility, are truly moral.

Conclusion

Hume’s ethics are empirical, describing what we do, while Kant’s rationalist ethics prescribe what we ought to do.