essay "Duty and Interest"
E695575
"Duty and Interest" is a seminal moral philosophy essay by H. A. Prichard that challenges consequentialist accounts of ethics and defends the irreducible, intuitive nature of moral obligation.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Duty and Interest | 0 |
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
philosophical essay
ⓘ
work of moral philosophy ⓘ |
| argumentType |
conceptual analysis of duty
ⓘ
critique of reductive ethical theories ⓘ |
| author |
H. A. Prichard
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Harold Arthur Prichard NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralClaim |
attempts to base duty on interest distort the nature of moral thinking
ⓘ
moral obligation is known by direct intuition rather than inference from non-moral facts ⓘ our sense of duty cannot be explained in terms of interest or desire for consequences ⓘ the justification of duty does not depend on showing that acting dutifully promotes the agent’s good ⓘ |
| field |
ethics
ⓘ
metaethics ⓘ moral philosophy ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
considered a classic statement of 20th-century ethical intuitionism
ⓘ
helped shape the deontological reaction against utilitarianism in analytic philosophy ⓘ |
| influenced |
20th-century analytic ethics
ⓘ
contemporary deontological theories ⓘ debates about the nature of reasons for action ⓘ later discussions of moral motivation ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
G. E. Moore
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
W. D. Ross NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
critique of consequentialism
ⓘ
deontological ethics ⓘ intuitionism in ethics ⓘ moral obligation ⓘ |
| philosophicalStance |
intuitionist deontology
ⓘ
non-naturalist moral realism ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition |
British moral philosophy
ⓘ
ethical intuitionism NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| positionCriticized |
consequentialism
ⓘ
hedonistic accounts of moral motivation ⓘ the view that duty is grounded in self-interest ⓘ utilitarianism ⓘ |
| positionDefended |
irreducibility of moral obligation
ⓘ
non-derivability of duty from desire or interest ⓘ priority of duty over interest ⓘ rejection of purely consequentialist justification of duty ⓘ self-evidence of certain moral duties ⓘ |
| viewOnJustification | no further non-moral justification is needed for recognizing a duty ⓘ |
| viewOnMoralKnowledge | moral truths are apprehended by intuition ⓘ |
| viewOnMoralPsychology | moral motivation is not reducible to self-interest ⓘ |
| viewOnReasons | there are irreducibly moral reasons for action ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.