[lit-ideas] Re: On being called a Lyre

Walter O. wrote:

"I see you've been drinking with David Hume and Adam Smith again."

There are worse drinking companions.  I am particularly in agreement
with Hume on the importance and role of 'custom', which seems to be an
underdeveloped aspect in Hume scholarship.

Walter continues:

"I do not deny that the emotions can be motivating factors."

My claim is not that their importance lies in motivation but rather
that emotions are necessary for both locating and identifying moral
issues.  The shock and offense that comes from being confronted with
injustice provides moral discourse with the impetus and stuff for
deliberation.  Consider the sociopath who is incapable of experiencing
moral outrage and therefore cannot engage in moral discourse.
Emotions provide moral intuitions that are necessary for deliberative
activity.  Without them, there are no means for distinguishing the
slaughter of a cow from the slaughter of a person.


Sincerely,

Phil Enns
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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