structure for 'Ethics'    |     alphabetical list of themes    |     expand these ideas

23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 1. Deontology

[moral theories centring on the idea of duty]

24 ideas
'Enkrateia' (control) means abiding by one's own calculations [Aristotle]
Ariston says rules are useless for the virtuous and the non-virtuous [Ariston, by Annas]
We want good education and sociability, rather than lots of moral precepts [Leibniz]
You can't form moral rules without an end, which needs feelings and a moral sense [Hutcheson]
If 'maxims' are deeper underlying intentions, Kant can be read as a virtue theorist [Kant, by Statman]
We can ask how rational goodness is, but also why is rationality good [Putnam on Kant]
Kant follows Rousseau in defining freedom and morality in terms of each other [Taylor,C on Kant]
The only purely good thing is a good will [Kant]
Other causes can produce nice results, so morality must consist in the law, found only in rational beings [Kant]
The will is good if its universalised maxim is never in conflict with itself [Kant]
It is basic that moral actions must be done from duty [Kant]
Each person should devise his own virtues and categorical imperative [Nietzsche]
Replace the categorical imperative by the natural imperative [Nietzsche]
'Ought' and 'right' are survivals from earlier ethics, and should be jettisoned [Anscombe]
Between Aristotle and us, a Judaeo-Christian legal conception of ethics was developed [Anscombe]
Saying we 'ought to be moral' makes no sense, unless it relates to some other system [Foot]
The modern idea of obligation seems to have lost the idea of an obligation 'to' something [Taylor,R]
'Deon' in Greek means what one must do; there was no word meaning 'duty' [Williams,B]
Something may be 'rational' either because it is required or because it is acceptable [Nagel]
Conflict of rules might be avoided by greater complexity, or by a hierarchy of rules [Singer]
Duty prohibits some acts, whatever their consequences [Glover]
Principles cover life as a whole, where rules just cover actions [Annas]
Deontologists do consider consequences, because they reveal when a rule might apply [Hursthouse]
'Codifiable' morality give rules for decisions which don't require wisdom [Hursthouse]