Bentham on ‘Hume’s Virtues’

Abstract

[Abstract] Among scholars of utilitarianism, it is quite common to discuss Hume’s influence on Bentham. It is also often argued that the founder of classical utilitarianism’s admiration for the Scottish thinker diminished over time, mainly due to Bentham’s tendency to believe that Hume was not clearly or completely a utilitarian. A detailed and comprehensive study of the relationship between the two thinkers has yet to be made. Nor has there been as an exhaustive analysis of the possible role played by David Hume in what has been referred to as ‘The Invention of Utilitarianism’.1 This paper focuses on a specific aspect of the relationship between Hume and Bentham: the critical reading that Bentham carries out of the theory of virtues proposed by David Hume from Bentham’s classical utilitarianism assumptions. After providing an overview of the basic elements comprising David Hume’s theory of virtues, this paper analyses Bentham’s criticisms. In its conclusion, it defends the compatibility of Hume’s theory with some of the essential assumptions of classical utilitarianism – as well as the broad impact that Hume’s position might have had on the development of classical utilitarianism.