Does fulfilling oneâs obligations to others satisfy oneâs own interest? Many philosophers and humanists say âNOâ. One of the famous humanists, Hobbes, thinks that it is the feature of a âFoolâ to think that it is not very profitable to follow the agreement made with the person, who had fulfilled his provisions of the agreement. Supposing, that in this situation only one party to the agreement gains all the profits and benefits, the Fool finds that it would be better for him to break the agreement, because he would save the costs of compliance. So, if the consideration of the Fool is correct, would the other party to the agreement act the same way?
David Hume touched the same question in his famous work âFarmerâs Dilemmaâ. This book tells the story of two neighboring farmers. Each of them expected a rich harvest of corn. Each of the farmers asked his neighbor to help him in gathering this harvest when it ripens. When the harvest ripens at different times, two farmers were sure to help each other, but they did not. The thing is that none of the farmers wanted to be in the position of Hobbesâs Fool: each of them realized that if he would help the other first, then he would not help him later, as there would be no profit.
Hume wanted to show that a lot of people are afraid to perform some actions as they do not trust each other. It is impossible to predict what the person would do, if he could help you without having any benefits for himself. The similar situation may occur when two sides sign a contract and none of the party can be sure that it would not be in the position of this Hobbesâs Fool and would get its benefit from the contract.
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