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Single Idea 7664

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 2. Duty ]

Full Idea

There is an absence among the Greeks of a notion of obligation, and hence of duty, which is difficult to grasp for people who read the Greeks through spectacles partly affected by the jews.

Gist of Idea

The Greeks have no notion of obligation or duty

Source

Isaiah Berlin (The Roots of Romanticism [1965], Ch.1)

Book Ref

Berlin,Isaiah: 'The Roots of Romanticism' [Pimlico 2000], p.4

A Reaction

This doesn't quite fit early section of 'Republic', in which morality is a mutual agreement not to do harm. Presumably the Greek word 'deon' refers to what needs to be done, rather than to anyone's obligation to do it(?). Contracts need duty? Cf. 4133

Related Idea

Idea 4133 Speciesism isn't like racism, because the former implies a viewpoint which belongs to no one [Williams,B]

The 44 ideas with the same theme [nature of duty and its underpinnings]:

498 It is a great thing, when one is in adversity, to think of duty [Democritus (attr)]
5072 For Stoics, obligations are determined by social role [Taylor,R on Stoic school]
22119 Augustine said (unusually) that 'ought' does not imply 'can' [Augustine, by Matthews]
3918 Moral philosophy aims to show us our duty [Hume]
5295 Kant was happy with 'good will', even if it had no result [Kant, by Marx/Engels]
6695 Kant has to attribute high moral worth to some deeply unattractive human lives [Kant, by Graham]
8028 Kantian duty seems to imply conformism with authority [MacIntyre on Kant]
3714 Dutiful actions are judged not by purpose, but by the maxim followed [Kant]
3718 Telling the truth from duty is quite different from doing so to avoid inconvenience [Kant]
3724 A categorical imperative sees an action as necessary purely for its own sake [Kant]
3723 There are no imperatives for a holy will, as the will is in harmony with moral law [Kant]
3735 Men are subject to laws which are both self-made and universal [Kant]
22441 The law will protect you if you tell a truth which results in murder [Kant]
21060 It can't be a duty to strive after the impossible [Kant]
22439 There are only duties if there are rights, so truth is only for those with a right to it [Constant]
22440 Unconditional truth-telling makes a society impossible [Constant]
3768 Orthodox morality is the only one which feels obligatory [Mill]
19230 People should follow what lies before them, and is within their power [Peirce]
20267 Seeing duty as a burden makes it a bit cruel, and it can thus never become a habit [Nietzsche]
4415 Guilt and obligation originated in the relationship of buying and selling, credit and debt [Nietzsche]
20725 The idea of duty in one's calling haunts us, like a lost religion [Weber]
9255 Seeing the goodness of an effect creates the duty to produce it, not the desire [Prichard]
9259 We feel obligations to overcome our own failings, and these are not relations to other people [Prichard]
5900 We should do our duty, but not from a sense of duty [Ross]
5909 Be faithful, grateful, just, beneficent, non-malevolent, and improve yourself [Ross, by PG]
5942 We like people who act from love, but admire more the people who act from duty [Ross]
7664 The Greeks have no notion of obligation or duty [Berlin]
5066 If we are made in God's image, pursuit of excellence is replaced by duty to obey God [Taylor,R]
5065 The ethics of duty requires a religious framework [Taylor,R]
4110 Obligation and duty look backwards (because of a promise or job), although the acts are in the future [Williams,B]
4250 The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent [Williams,B]
4249 "Ought implies can" is a famous formula in connection with moral obligation [Williams,B]
4248 Not all moral deliberations lead to obligations; some merely reveal what 'may' be done [Williams,B]
3813 'Ought' implies that there is a reason to do something [Searle]
2172 The modern idea of duty is unknown in archaic Greece [Williams,B]
3258 If cockroaches can't think about their actions, they have no duties [Nagel]
8023 My duties depend on my identity, which depends on my social relations [MacIntyre]
3551 Virtue theory tries to explain our duties in terms of our character [Annas]
4290 That which can only be done by a callous person, ought not to be done [Scruton]
3886 Membership is the greatest source of obligation [Scruton]
22262 Kant's moral law has no foundation - because that would undermine its priority [Sandel]
7093 Behaviour may be disgusting or inhumane, but violate no duty [Statman]
7104 The ancients recognised imperfect duties, but we have added perfect duties like justice [Statman]
20886 Are we only obligated by agreement, or should we always help the weak? [LaFollette]