Justice In David Hume's 'An Inquiry Concerning Morals'

In An Inquiry Concerning Morals, David Hume writes about what his view of justice is. Hume believes that when it comes to justice in a society, there is no need to prove justice and that ‘public utility’ is the origin of justice. Hume states, “… the rules of equity or justice depend entirely on the particular state and condition, in which men are placed, and owe their origin and existence to that utility which results to the public from their strict and regular observance” (Hume, pg. 86, par.2). To prove that justice is valuable to a society he examines two stronger claims, the origin of justice and the sole grounds for the merit of justice. In attempting to make his case for these claims, Hume advances what we might call the circumstances …show more content…
According to Hume, laws are artificial and this is why justice is artificial and not natural. Human beings often feel like it is a duty rather than something that is natural. The sense of justice arises from human conventions. In An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Hume discusses the difference between human beings and animals and that the main difference between the two is reason. Hume strongly states that laws only serve for the existence of justice which makes the notion of justice artificial and not natural. Hume explains that his theory of justice cannot depend on natural virtue. Hume states that, “A man's property is supposed to be fenced against every mortal, in every possible case. But private benevolence is, and ought to be, weaker in some persons, than in others: And in many, or indeed in most persons, must absolutely fail. Private benevolence, therefore, is not the original motive of justice” (pg. 483). In this passage Hume clearly states that private benevolence does not form a basis for justice because the meaning it acquires may change and even fail. Therefore, justice cannot be a natural …show more content…
Here, for Hume, education and social virtues are most important in order for mutual agreements to be in order. According to Hume, our obligation as citizens is to obey the laws which we have previously agreed to sign because we know and believe that they are totally in accordance with the interests of the society. Hume states “… public interest is not naturally attached to the observation of the rules of justice; but is only connected with it, after an artificial convention for the establishment of these rules…” (pg. 480). A further aspect that Hume points out is that the contract in which we agree to sign is universal with exception of a few differences deriving from traditions private to diverse societies. From my point of view, Hume believes that such similarity between laws of difference societies derive from the confidence of man that it guarantees the interests of the