39. Hume’s account of sympathy.
40. It implies a self-consciousness not reducible to impressions.
41. Ambiguity in his account of benevolence: it is a desire and therefore has pleasure for its object. What pleasure?
42. Pleasure of sympathy with the pleasure of another.
43. All ‘passions’ equally interested or disinterested. Confusion arises from use of ‘passion’ alike for desire and emotion. Of this Hume avails himself in his account of active pity.
44. Explanation of apparent conflict between reason and passion.
45. A ‘reasonable’ desire means one that excites little emotion. Enumeration of possible motives.
46. If pleasure sole motive, what is the distinction of self-love? Its opposition to disinterested desires, as commonly understood, disappears. It is desire for pleasure in general.
47. How Hume gives meaning to this otherwise unmeaning definition. ‘Interest,’ like other motives described, implies determination by reason.
48. Thus Hume, having degraded morality for the sake of consistency, after all is not consistent.