Analogia humeana entre a a o moral e o movimento mecanico: uma interpreta o para a rela o entre as paix es e a raz o

The aim of this paper is to show the analogy that David Hume (1711 - 1776) makes between moral action and the mechanical movement as a clear indication of his understanding of the relationship between reason (direction) and passions (force) in human conduct. Stretching from Hume's moral epistemology to his social theory, the notion that carries this analogy would serve to endorse the view that the Scottish philosopher was trying to become a sort of "Newton of the moral sciences." This meant thinking about moral philosophy within the limits of nature and allowing an independent research, especially in relation to the religious tradition. Hume′s philosophy could be also a performative image of the movement, while an inseparable composition made of the impulse of the contents of sentimental trend, according to Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, and the direction of the empirical methods come from Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton.