more from this thinker
|
more from this text
Single Idea 46
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / d. Ethical theory
]
Full Idea
That we should act according to the right principle is common ground and may be assumed as a basis for discussion.
Gist of Idea
We must take for granted that we should act according to right principle
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1103b31)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.93
A Reaction
Hume grumbles that we can't prove values from facts, but Aristotle that is an absurd aspiration. His 'Ethics' is simply a handbook for people who wish to be good human beings.
Related Idea
Idea 21415
Duty is impossible without prior moral feeling, conscience, love and self-respect [Kant]
The
28 ideas
with the same theme
[the need for, and value of, formal ethical systems]:
|
302
|
What knowledge is required to live well?
[Plato]
|
|
45
|
We aim not to identify goodness, but to be good
[Aristotle]
|
|
46
|
We must take for granted that we should act according to right principle
[Aristotle]
|
|
5153
|
There is no fixed art of good conduct, and each situation is different, as in navigation
[Aristotle]
|
|
7407
|
Good and evil are what please us; goodness and badness the powers causing them
[Hobbes]
|
|
4130
|
There couldn't be a moral rule of which a man could not justly demand a reason
[Locke]
|
|
21374
|
We should no more expect ethical theory to produce good people than aesthetics to produce artists
[Schopenhauer]
|
|
20230
|
The very idea of a critique of morality is regarded as immoral!
[Nietzsche]
|
|
21740
|
I doubt whether ethics is part of philosophy
[Russell]
|
|
6973
|
Moral theories are all meta-ethical, and are neutral as regards actual conduct
[Ayer]
|
|
6974
|
Moral judgements cannot be the logical consequence of a moral philosophy
[Ayer]
|
|
9250
|
Discussing ethics is pointless; moral people behave badly, and integrity doesn't need rules
[Camus]
|
|
5310
|
Philosophers study the consequences of ethics instead of its origins
[Wilson,EO]
|
|
9228
|
Ranking order of desires reveals nothing, because none of them may be considered important
[Frankfurt]
|
|
5078
|
Kant and Mill both try to explain right and wrong, without a divine lawgiver
[Taylor,R]
|
|
5067
|
Morality based on 'forbid', 'permit' and 'require' implies someone who does these things
[Taylor,R]
|
|
4114
|
Philosophers try to produce ethical theories because they falsely assume that ethics can be simple
[Williams,B]
|
|
6997
|
Moral functionalism says moral terms get their meaning from their role in folk morality
[Jackson]
|
|
7000
|
Which are prior - thin concepts like right, good, ought; or thick concepts like kindness, equity etc.?
[Jackson]
|
|
3284
|
There is no one theory of how to act (or what to believe)
[Nagel]
|
|
23564
|
Deep ethical theory is very controversial, but we have to live with higher ethical practice
[Walzer]
|
|
8034
|
We still have the appearance and language of morality, but we no longer understand it
[MacIntyre]
|
|
8036
|
Unlike expressions of personal preference, evaluative expressions do not depend on context
[MacIntyre]
|
|
8049
|
Moral judgements now are anachronisms from a theistic age
[MacIntyre]
|
|
11911
|
Some philosophers always want more from morality; for others, nature is enough
[Blackburn]
|
|
20216
|
Modern moral theory concerns settling conflicts, rather than human fulfilment
[Zagzebski]
|
|
20447
|
The problems is not justifying ethics, but motivating it. Why should a self seek its good?
[Critchley]
|
|
7098
|
There is a new sort of moral scepticism, about the possibility of moral theories
[Statman]
|