Single Idea 22378

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / b. Fact and value]

Full Idea

I do not know what could be meant by saying it was someone's duty to do something unless there was an attempt to show why it mattered if this sort of thing was not done.

Gist of Idea

We can't affirm a duty without saying why it matters if it is not performed

Source

Philippa Foot (Moral Arguments [1958], p.105)

Book Reference

Foot,Philippa: 'Virtues and Vices' [Blackwell 1981], p.105


A Reaction

The Kantian idea assumes that duty is an absolute, and yet each duty rests on a particular maxim which is going to be universalised. So why should that maxim be universalised, and not some other?

Related Idea

Idea 22262 Kant's moral law has no foundation - because that would undermine its priority [Sandel]