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Single Idea 22502
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action
]
Full Idea
If a stranger should come on us when we are sleeping he will not think it all right to kill us. …In human life as it is, this kind of action is not made good by authenticity or self-fulfilment in the one who does it.
Gist of Idea
Refraining from murder is not made good by authenticity or self-fulfilment
Source
Philippa Foot (Natural Goodness [2001], 7)
Book Ref
Foot,Philippa: 'Natural Goodness' [OUP 2003], p.114
A Reaction
A rare swipe from Foot at existentialism, which she hardly ever mentions. I find it hard to see these existential virtues as in any way moral. It means nothing to other citizens whether one of their number is 'authentic'.
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[existentialist attitude to decisions and ethics]:
|
22027
|
Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel
[Novalis]
|
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20747
|
What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing
[Kierkegaard]
|
|
16001
|
Life may be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards
[Kierkegaard]
|
|
24079
|
The best life is the dangerous life
[Nietzsche]
|
|
4504
|
Morality used to be for preservation, but now we can only experiment, giving ourselves moral goals
[Nietzsche]
|
|
20106
|
Nietzsche was fascinated by a will that can turn against itself
[Nietzsche, by Safranski]
|
|
20316
|
Every decision I make moves towards or away from fulfilled Existenz
[Jaspers]
|
|
6571
|
When a man must choose between his mother and the Resistance, no theory can help
[Sartre, by Fogelin]
|
|
3851
|
If I do not choose, that is still a choice
[Sartre]
|
|
9242
|
Essential problems either risk death, or intensify the passion of life
[Camus]
|
|
9246
|
Danger and integrity are not in the leap of faith, but in remaining poised just before the leap
[Camus]
|
|
22342
|
Kantian existentialists care greatly for reasons for action, whereas Surrealists care nothing
[Murdoch]
|
|
22351
|
Only a philosopher might think choices create values
[Murdoch]
|
|
22502
|
Refraining from murder is not made good by authenticity or self-fulfilment
[Foot]
|
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4245
|
Ethical conviction must be to some extent passive, and can't just depend on the will and decisions
[Williams,B]
|
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4246
|
Taking responsibility won't cure ethical uncertainty by; we are uncertain what to decide
[Williams,B]
|
|
6689
|
The key to existentialism: the way you make choices is more important than what you choose
[Graham]
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