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Full Idea
There is a sense in which morality is inescapable - in moral epithets such as 'dishonest', 'unjust', 'uncharitable'; these do not cease to apply to a man because he is indifferent to the ends of morality: they may indeed apply because of his indifference.
Gist of Idea
Morality is inescapable, in descriptive words such as 'dishonest', 'unjust' and 'uncharitable'
Source
Philippa Foot (Morality as system of hypothetical imperatives [1972], p.172 n15)
Book Ref
Foot,Philippa: 'Virtues and Vices' [Blackwell 1981], p.172
A Reaction
Odysseus was admired for lying, and charity wasn't a virtue in the ancient world. They won't go away as factual descriptions, but the values attached to them vary quite a lot.
| 429 | To God (though not to humans) all things are beautiful and good and just [Heraclitus] |
| 5911 | Moral duties are as fundamental to the universe as the axioms of mathematics [Ross] |
| 5926 | The beauty of a patch of colour might be the most important fact about it [Ross] |
| 23683 | Moral norms are objective, connected to facts about human goods [Foot, by Hacker-Wright] |
| 22451 | All people need affection, cooperation, community and help in trouble [Foot] |
| 22392 | Morality is inescapable, in descriptive words such as 'dishonest', 'unjust' and 'uncharitable' [Foot] |
| 5355 | Cognitivists think morals are discovered by reason [Flanagan] |