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Full Idea
By calling a thing intrinsically good we mean that it would be good even if nothing else existed.
Gist of Idea
The thing is intrinsically good if it would be good when nothing else existed
Source
W. David Ross (The Right and the Good [1930], §IV)
Book Ref
Ross,W.David: 'The Right and the Good' [OUP 1930], p.75
A Reaction
This dramatic image (the Mona Lisa alone in vacancy) raises grave doubts about whether there is very much that could qualify for 'intrinsic value'. I even doubt the value of the MS of the Goldberg Variations, if nothing else exists.
| 6227 | Keeping promises and contracts is an obligation of natural justice [Cudworth] |
| 24085 | For absolute morality a goal for mankind is needed [Nietzsche] |
| 18676 | We should ask what we would judge to be good if it existed in absolute isolation [Moore,GE] |
| 5918 | The thing is intrinsically good if it would be good when nothing else existed [Ross] |
| 5930 | All things being equal, we all prefer the virtuous to be happy, not the vicious [Ross] |
| 2942 | The sense of the world must lie outside the world [Wittgenstein] |
| 22447 | Saying something 'just is' right or wrong creates an illusion of fact and objectivity [Foot] |
| 3257 | Total objectivity can't see value, but it sees many people with values [Nagel] |
| 18672 | Values from reasons has the 'wrong kind of reason' problem - admiration arising from fear [Orsi] |