A philosophical paper discussing the character of human motives by examining the theories of Plato, Mill, Hume and Peter Singer.
This paper is an exploration of the character of human motives derived by examining the discourses of philosophers Plato, John Stuart Mill, David Hume and Peter Singer. It defines several theories of human desires, egoism and humanism. Each of these philosophers has posited a theory of human action that diverges on what is the principal motivator -personal pleasure, or the betterment of the moral good. The conclusion is closer to Hume’s egoist point of view but makes interesting analogies.
Imagine a person standing in line at a grocery store and they say to the woman behind them, that is a beautiful dress and it fits you so well. Now, here is the question that will plague this paper why did the person say that? The question is asking what was it that motivated this individual to make the comment. I would hope that, at least at this point, you were unable to answer the question for I intentionally left out all the details that would permit a reasonable person to develop an answer.