Book 2, Part 2, Of Love and Hatred Summary and Analysis

Love and hatred next come in for scrutiny. Love and Hatred are also basic features of the mine, indefinable in other terms. They both relate to persons in the same way as pride and humility and are caused by the same qualities that produce pride and humility - wit, wealth, power, beauty, virtue, etc. However, they differ because pride and humility derive always from the self, whereas love and hatred are always other-directed. Section 2.2 continues to affirm and elaborate Hume's principles of association. Hume will conduct eight experiments to show that his theory of association is true for these four passions. Some complexities arise, however, because pleasure and pain received from others can caused love and hatred.

Hume holds that our passions are not activated against the actions of others that...