HoP 494 Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists

Peter Adamson· Host0:00

[music] Hi, I'm Peter Adamson, and you're listening to The History of Philosophy podcast, brought to you with the support of the Philosophy Department at King's College London and the LMU in Munich. Online at historyofphilosophy.net. Today's episode, Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists. There's a widespread, if somewhat dispiriting, belief that nobody ever does anything unless there's something in it for them. Of course, the thieves and the corrupt politicians are motivated by self-interest, but so in a way are the morally virtuous. The volunteer nurse may seem to be selflessly devoting time and effort to the greater good, but in fact, they're doing it to win admiration from their friends and family. Very occasionally, someone does a good deed and refrains from telling anyone about it, but even they are just seeking the pleasure of self-satisfaction, which gets even more pleasant when they congratulate themselves for staying quiet about how virtuous they are. This is obviously a cynical interpretation of human behavior, but is it nonetheless a convincing one? A straightforward argument in its favor would go like this: whatever anyone does deliberately is done out of some motivation or desire, which is satisfied through performing the actions. So even virtuous actions are carried out for the sake of attaining that satisfaction. To act successfully,