The Humean Theory of Motivation

According to the Humean Theory of Motivation, human motivation requires the cooperation of belief and desire, which play separate roles. For our purposes, since this is what is really required in order for this idea to play the role that it does in metaethics, it is the thesis that motivation requires a desire. It is of course the third and final leg of the moral problem.

Reading

Our reading is chapter 4 of The Moral Problem, which contains Smith’s argument that we should not solve the moral problem by rejecting the Humean Theory of Motivation. As you read, ask yourself: which among the many things that Smith is saying in this chapter are the most important? Is the Humean Theory of Motivation supposed to be an empirical thesis about how human motivation works? Or is it supposed to be a conceptual thesis about how any possible motivation must work? What is Smith’s argument? And are you convinced?