Alan Goldman: “Huckleberry Finn and Moral Motivation" Seminar Abstract
I argue that while HF is not motivated by his explicit moral judgments, he is motivated
by his moral emotion of sympathy for Jim. I argue against philosopher interpreters
(Bennett and Arpaly) that Huck is not irrational, does not suffer from weak will, in failing
to act on his moral judgment that he ought to turn Jim in. It follows that rational agents
need not be motivated by their explicit moral judgments. His moral motivation does,
however, reflect his strongest moral reason, of which he is implicitly aware (the emotion
contains an implicit judgment), so the question remains whether rational agents are
required to be moved by moral reasons of which they are aware. I argue not, on the
grounds that emotions in general are not under our rational control and not rationally
required even when appropriate or reflective of reasons. And moral motivation is largely
a matter of having various moral emotions.
References:
Jonathan Bennett, "The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn, Philosophy, 49 (1974),
123-134.