It is generally recognized that no higher praise can be bestowed on an individual than to point out the many ways in which his activities have been useful in promoting the welfare of his fellow humans. Likewise, it may be said that nothing will indicate the disapprobation of people any more than the assertion that the person in question has never done anything which has been of significant use to the society in which he has lived. This commendation of usefulness and disapproval of the lack of it suggests that there must be some reason why people are in favor of the one and critical of the other. Various attempts have been made by ethical philosophers to account for this fact, and it is Hume's purpose in this section of the book to set the matter straight.
Usefulness in this respect as the source of virtue and goodness is so commonly recognized that we often speak of the beneficial qualities of herbs and animals as their particular virtues even though it is only a caprice of language that prompts us to speak of them in that way. Why is it then that writers in the field of ethics have been so reluctant to account for goodness in terms of usefulness? Hume suggests that at least a part of the reason may be the difficulty encountered in trying to enumerate all of the effects of usefulness. At any rate, the attempt has usually been made to account for virtues by referring to other principles. Perhaps another reason is the fact that usefulness is so often interpreted in terms of selfish interests, while altruism is generally regarded as a higher motive.
Skeptics have urged that all moral distinctions are the result of education which has been promoted by the politicians and the rulers of the state. These persons have produced the type of legislation that was favorable to their own selfish interests. They have professed an interest in the welfare of all the members of their society, but this has been merely a device to make the rules and regulations more acceptable to the people as a whole. By getting the people to believe that the new legislation is in their interests, the rulers have been more successful in serving their own selfish purposes.
