Explain what Hume means by saying that reason is and ought only to be Essay

Explain what Hume means by saying that reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and why he thinks this is so. Is he right - Essay Example If reason can do anything, it is to do, as the passions of a person require him/her to do. According to Hume, whatever we do and act depends on our passions and not on the reason (Hume 1888). Hume does not mean that reason is aimless and does no job at all. Reason provides knowledge with which, passions and will get direction. Reason is there to guide us about how can we fulfil our passions (Hume 1888). Reason is only for judgement not for taking decisions. All the decisions are taken by passions of a human being and a human being acts according to his/her passions. According to Hume, reason cannot be only cause of any action of determination (Hume 1888). He also elaborates that reason is in position to combat with passion as it is enslaved by passions. The sentence, â€Å"reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions† means that reason is unable to become a cause of any action alone, it needs the companionship or in appropriate words, we can say, authority of passions with it to motivate an action. According to Hume, behind every action, there is a cause and effect theory and this theory only works when reason supports passion in motivating an action. In response to passion, there is an action, passion is the cause while action is the effect and reason is only there for helping with decision-making. Hume also negates the idea that reason plays any role in morality (Hume 1888). According to his ideology, a human being is activated only by means of his passions that keep a person in control and reason has no control over passions. Passions have enslaved reason and reason is employed to support passions (Hume 1888). Hume elaborates that immorality is not considered as immorality on the basis of reason but on the basis of our discontentment with an act (Hume 1888). According to Hume, passions have â€Å"original existence† (Hume 1888). Hume claims that reason is attached with ideas and copies of ideas are formed in mind while passions do not