preview

Responses to the Challenge of Amoralism Essay example

Better Essays

Responses to the Challenge of Amoralism

ABSTRACT: To the question "Why should I be moral?" there is a simple answer (SA) that some philosophers find tempting. There is also a response, common enough to be dubbed the standard response (SR), to the simple answer. In what follows, I show that the SA and SR are unsatisfactory; they share a serious defect. To the question, "Why should I be moral?" there is a simple answer (SA) that some philosophers find tempting. There is also a response, common enough to be dubbed the standard response (SR), to the simple answer. In what follows I show that SA and SR are unsatisfactory; they share a serious defect.

I will interpret "Why should I be moral?" to mean "Why should I habitually perform …show more content…

Or perhaps it is (d) a request for a motive to be moral.

(2) If Alf’s question is of type (a) or (c), it’s silly. Nothing could be more obvious than that Alf has a moral reason to be moral. It’s a plain fact that being moral is the moral thing to do — it’s the option justified from the moral point of view — and this is clearly a reason for Alf to be moral.

(3) If Alf’s question is of type (b) or (d) it’s unreasonable; hence we need not bother with it. Moral philosophy aims at rational persuasion, not at generating motives to act. Nor does it aim to justify morality in terms of prudence, law, custom, or etiquette. Indeed, such a justification is impossible. But we should not be disturbed about this. The moral life is not called into question by showing that it does not reduce to a concern for custom, prudence, etc., any more than prudence is called into question by showing that it does not reduce to a concern for morality.

(4) Thus, Alf’s question is silly or unreasonable. We need not bother with it.

SR can be set out as follows:

(I) Responses to "Why should I be moral?" that treat the question as illegitimate, SA being one such response, fail to envision all the things the question might express. Very likely, Alf’s question is not of kind (a), (b), (c) or (d). Instead, it’s

Get Access