more on this theme | more from this thinker
Full Idea
How can I be brought to see the truth of the principle of paying a debt except in connection with a particular instance? For this purpose any instance will do. If I cannot see that I ought to pay this debt, I shall not see that I ought to a debt.
Gist of Idea
I see the need to pay a debt in a particular instance, and any instance will do
Source
H.A. Prichard (What is the Basis of Moral Obligation? [1925])
Book Ref
Prichard,H.A.: 'Moral Writings' [OUP 2002], p.5
A Reaction
This isn't quite particularism, which would (I think) say that the degree of obligation will never be quite the same in any two situations, and so one instance will not suffice to understand the duty.
| 9254 | In philosophy the truth can only be reached via the ruins of the false [Prichard] |
| 9256 | I see the need to pay a debt in a particular instance, and any instance will do [Prichard] |
| 9257 | The complexities of life make it almost impossible to assess morality from a universal viewpoint [Prichard] |
| 9255 | Seeing the goodness of an effect creates the duty to produce it, not the desire [Prichard] |