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Is Everyone Self-Interested? Hume versus Mandeville

Morett, Fernando (2016) Is Everyone Self-Interested? Hume versus Mandeville. [Preprint]

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Abstract

David Hume has been largely read as a philosopher but not as a scientist. In this article I discuss his work exclusively as a case of science; in particular as a case of early modern science. I compare the combined moral psychology of self-interest and sympathy he argues for with the moral psychology of universal self-interest from Bernard Mandeville, presenting the controversy between the two as a case of theory choice under the normative methodology of the vera causa from the eighteenth century, using inductive support, experimentum crucis and simplicity as criteria. On all three criteria I conclude that Mandeville’s theory of universal self-interest wins the controversy.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Morett, Fernandof.morett@lse.ac.uk
Keywords: Theory choice, Moral psychology, Vera causa, Self-interest, Sympathy, Inductive support, Experimentum crucis, Simplicity
Subjects: General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
General Issues > Ethical Issues
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > Explanation
General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Specific Sciences > Psychology
General Issues > Theory Change
Depositing User: Fernando Morett
Date Deposited: 19 Aug 2016 15:05
Last Modified: 19 Aug 2016 15:05
Item ID: 12380
Subjects: General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
General Issues > Ethical Issues
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > Explanation
General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Specific Sciences > Psychology
General Issues > Theory Change
Date: 19 August 2016
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12380

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