Hume and The Problem of Cooperation

We are born weak and needy.

We can’t do much by ourselves.

Notice on p. 254 the benefits of working together: 1) more power, 2) increased ability through “partition of employments” 3) mutual protection We gain all three in society.

Society is advantageous – but how do we learn this? Sexual desire draws people together and spawns families. It is within families that we first learn of the benefits of cooperation.

Why worry about this?

Consider the problem – we know society is advantageous, but we are selfish and this is an impediment to the formation of society. The standard answer to this is that we need to be more generous and kind. Hume, though, rightly points out that this makes matters worse since kindness is connected more powerfully to those close to us. Think of a mother bear and her cubs. Come between her and her children and she will kill you, even if you just accidentally strayed. This is a new reason for fighting on top of Hobbesian selfishness – helping those we love. Generosity, then, allows us to have our family or clan as a small society but it will go no further. Instead of individuals in a state of war we now have families in that state.

What makes it even worse is that the easily transferrable goods we all want, like food, are scarce. In order to get the things I want it looks like my family will have to fight yours.

Remember, though, that society is better than war and we know this. How then do we make society larger?

The relevance to business is direct. People immediately realize the problems self interest creates. However, their responses are as tired as they are mistaken. There is no general love of mankind. We are not Gods. Telling us to be more kind results in us being more kind – to those closest to us. Is it any wonder that the stories of the “greedy” CEO is accompanied by the story of how those closest to him enabled the unethical behavior. They were kind to each other while they fleeced everyone else. How then to overcome this problem? We need to since business depends upon the widespread cooperation known as “The Market”.

BK