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Single Idea 4250
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 2. Duty
]
Full Idea
The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent.
Gist of Idea
The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent
Source
Bernard Williams (Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy [1985], Ch.10)
Book Ref
Williams,Bernard: 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy' [Fontana 1985], p.182
A Reaction
The only person who can offer a rebuttal of this is Aristotle. With the magnet of the Platonic Form of the Good, I can perceive the natural excellences of which I am capable, and feel a duty to pursue them.
The
25 ideas
from 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'
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4114
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Philosophers try to produce ethical theories because they falsely assume that ethics can be simple
[Williams,B]
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4110
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Obligation and duty look backwards (because of a promise or job), although the acts are in the future
[Williams,B]
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4112
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A crucial feature of moral thought is second-order desire - the desire to have certain desires
[Williams,B]
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4113
|
'Deon' in Greek means what one must do; there was no word meaning 'duty'
[Williams,B]
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4116
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A weakness of contractual theories is the position of a person of superior ability and power
[Williams,B]
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4121
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Why should I think of myself as both the legislator and the citizen who follows the laws?
[Williams,B]
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4122
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If the self becomes completely impartial, it no longer has enough identity to worry about its interests
[Williams,B]
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4120
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It is an error of consequentialism to think we just aim at certain states of affairs; we also want to act
[Williams,B]
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4124
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Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and is immune to the inverse square law
[Williams,B]
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4128
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Intuitionism has been demolished by critics, and no longer looks interesting
[Williams,B]
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4132
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The category of person is a weak basis for ethics, because it is not fixed but comes in degrees
[Williams,B]
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4131
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Most women see an early miscarriage and a late stillbirth as being very different in character
[Williams,B]
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4133
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Speciesism isn't like racism, because the former implies a viewpoint which belongs to no one
[Williams,B]
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4134
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The weakness of prescriptivism is shown by "I simply don't like staying at good hotels"
[Williams,B]
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4135
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Some ethical ideas, such as 'treachery' and 'promise', seem to express a union of facts and values
[Williams,B]
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4244
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It is very confused to deduce a nonrelativist morality of universal toleration from relativism
[Williams,B]
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4243
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Our ability to react to an alien culture shows that ethical thought extends beyond cultural boundaries
[Williams,B]
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4245
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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
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Taking responsibility won't cure ethical uncertainty by; we are uncertain what to decide
[Williams,B]
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4247
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It is a mark of our having ethical values that we aim to reproduce them in our children
[Williams,B]
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4252
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Promise keeping increases reliability, by making deliberation focus on something which would be overlooked
[Williams,B]
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4248
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Not all moral deliberations lead to obligations; some merely reveal what 'may' be done
[Williams,B]
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4249
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"Ought implies can" is a famous formula in connection with moral obligation
[Williams,B]
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4250
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The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent
[Williams,B]
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22355
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In the realist view, the real external world explains how it (and perceptions of it) are possible
[Williams,B]
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