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Full Idea
I desire you to consider if there be any quality that is virtuous, without having a tendency either to the public good or to the good of the person who possesses it.
Gist of Idea
All virtues benefit either the public, or the individual who possesses them
Source
David Hume (Letters [1739], to Hutcheson 1739)
Book Ref
'British Moralists 1650-1800 Vol. 2', ed/tr. Raphael,D.D. [Hackett 1991], p.110
A Reaction
Obviously this is generally true. How, though, does it benefit the individual to secretly preserve their integrity? I go round to visit a friend to repay a debt; I am told they have died; I quietly leave some money on the table and leave. Why?
20705 | That events could be uncaused is absurd; I only say intuition and demonstration don't show this [Hume] |
4580 | All virtues benefit either the public, or the individual who possesses them [Hume] |
4579 | The idea of a final cause is very uncertain and unphilosophical [Hume] |
4581 | Virtues and vices are like secondary qualities in perception, found in observers, not objects [Hume] |