Ideas from 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy' by Bernard Williams [1985], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy' by Williams,Bernard [Fontana 1985,0-00-686001-x]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     expand these ideas

---

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 2. Realism

22355

In the realist view, the real external world explains how it (and perceptions of it) are possible

13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 6. Relativism Critique

4243	Our ability to react to an alien culture shows that ethical thought extends beyond cultural boundaries

4244	It is very confused to deduce a nonrelativist morality of universal toleration from relativism

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / d. Ethical theory

4114	Philosophers try to produce ethical theories because they falsely assume that ethics can be simple

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / c. Ethical intuitionism

4128	Intuitionism has been demolished by critics, and no longer looks interesting

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature

4132	The category of person is a weak basis for ethics, because it is not fixed but comes in degrees

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / i. Prescriptivism

4134	The weakness of prescriptivism is shown by "I simply don't like staying at good hotels"

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / b. Fact and value

4135	Some ethical ideas, such as 'treachery' and 'promise', seem to express a union of facts and values

22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / g. Consequentialism

4120	It is an error of consequentialism to think we just aim at certain states of affairs; we also want to act

23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 3. Promise Keeping

4252	Promise keeping increases reliability, by making deliberation focus on something which would be overlooked

23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 5. Free Rider

4116	A weakness of contractual theories is the position of a person of superior ability and power

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / c. Motivation for virtue

4112	A crucial feature of moral thought is second-order desire - the desire to have certain desires

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

4113	'Deon' in Greek means what one must do; there was no word meaning 'duty'

23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 2. Duty

4110	Obligation and duty look backwards (because of a promise or job), although the acts are in the future

4249	"Ought implies can" is a famous formula in connection with moral obligation

4248	Not all moral deliberations lead to obligations; some merely reveal what 'may' be done

4250	The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent

23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 3. Universalisability

4121	Why should I think of myself as both the legislator and the citizen who follows the laws?

4122	If the self becomes completely impartial, it no longer has enough identity to worry about its interests

23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 3. Motivation for Altruism

4124	Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and is immune to the inverse square law

23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action

4245	Ethical conviction must be to some extent passive, and can't just depend on the will and decisions

4246	Taking responsibility won't cure ethical uncertainty by; we are uncertain what to decide

25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 5. Education / a. Aims of education

4247	It is a mark of our having ethical values that we aim to reproduce them in our children

25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 3. Abortion

4131	Most women see an early miscarriage and a late stillbirth as being very different in character

25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 6. Animal Rights

4133	Speciesism isn't like racism, because the former implies a viewpoint which belongs to no one