gogol

In the essay, "On the Immortality of the Soul," Hume repeats his contention that woman's mental capacities are inferior to those of men. "The inferiority of women's capacity is easily accounted for. Their domestic life requires no higher faculties either of mind or body." Although this statement leaves one wondering whether Hume viewed women's intellectual and bodily inferiority as inherent or acquired, in others, such as the one cited above, there is no such ambiguity, in that Hume believes the difference to arise from nature. Talented written term paper are always online to assist you with essay writing; custom services! It appears that Hume subscribed to a position similar to that of Aristotle and quite in keeping with the European view of women in the eighteenth century: "civilized" woman is intellectually and physically inferior to "civilized" man, and her inferiority is innate. This interpretation receives further support from Hume discussion of justice in his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. Hume poses the question of one's obligations "were there a species of creatures intermingled with men, which, though rational, were possessed of such inferior strength, both of body and mind, that they were incapable of all resistance, and could never, upon the highest provocation, make us feel the effects of their resentment." His answer is that such creatures should be treated humanely, but that they possess no rights and our actions would not be governed by what Hume calls "the restraints of justice." He insists that this properly describes the relationship between men and nonhuman animals, but does not apply to the relationship between "civilized Europeans" and "barbarous Indians," nor between "civilized" men and "civilized" women. In the case of "civilized" women, Hume explains that although the male superiority in bodily strength is sufficient to maintain their tyranny over women, "such are the insinuation, address, and charms of their fair companions that women are commonly able to break the confederacy, and share with the other sex in all the rights and privileges of society." "Civilized" women, thus, are to be treated with equal justice, not because they show men the error of being so treated through reasoned arguments, or act to show men this error with such courage and resolution that men are able to feel the effects of women's resentment, but rather because of their charms. In A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume discusses a group of natural abilities--intelligence, good sense, judgment, wit, and eloquence--which he categorizes as virtues. All of these are mental qualities, and all are, on Hume's reckoning, innate. custom research paper - order custom research paper draft from scratch by experienced writers! Since these qualities are perceived as virtues by Hume, they are abilities we would expect to find well developed in the Humean moral person. In fact, Hume had earlier characterized Cleanthes as possessing both wit and knowledge and exhibiting fine judgment in treating all fairly.