Single Idea 8029

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 3. Universalisability]

Full Idea

Hegel attacks doctrines which are attempts by the individual to supply his own morality, and at one and the same time, to claim for it a genuine universality.

Gist of Idea

You can't have a morality which is supplied by the individual, but is also genuinely universal

Source

report of Georg W.F.Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right [1821]) by Alasdair MacIntyre - A Short History of Ethics Ch.15

Book Reference

MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'A Short History of Ethics' [Routledge 1967], p.208


A Reaction

Hegel clearly has Kant in mind. It is a penetrating criticism. Of course, there is no reason why a universal mathematical proof shouldn't be 'provided' by the individual. The Kantian seeks agreement. See Contractualism.

Related Idea

Idea 4251 If we are required to give moral thought the highest priority, this gives morality no content [Williams,B on Kant]