His philosophy springs from empiricism. His ethical ideas stem from the idea of utility, but he also minds sympathy. His political ideas are entirely conservative (Touchard, 2015: 430). His theory of passions attempts to determine the limits of mind, emotions and will of an individual. He attributes importance to passions in order to understand human nature, accepts that passions determine human behavior, and does not take passions in a negative sense. Passions can be observed and explained, according to Hume. Reason is (and should be) the slave of passions. It cannot act independently from passions; it has to obey them. Reason and passions have various functions; they cannot be opposed to each other. Reason, by itself, cannot constitute the means of motivation, but it can help distinguishing between the good and the bad about passions (Hume, as cited in Kırlı, 2013: 111).