Conclusion
The Conclusion addresses several ways in which Hume’s treatment of the passions is supposed to contribute to his general philosophical views. It may function as: (1) a solution to the skeptical problem of the self that emerges from Book 1 of the Treatise; (2) a medium for his account of morality and moral sentiment; (3) a phenomenon that makes sociability and psychological well-being possible; (4) an instrument to explain the psychological aspects of religious belief; (5) a means to explain paradoxical emotions like aesthetic appreciation of tragedy; and (6) a naturalistic alterative to religious perspectives on human action and morality. Hume’s psychology of the passions serves all of these purposes and can only do so because the signature feature of the passions is their role in initiating action.