morality and self-interest dec 2007

[...]... include studies of classical and early modern moral theorists as well as critiques of contemporary ethical thinkers Ralph Wedgwood is Lecturer and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford He is the author of The Nature of Normativity (2007) , and many philosophical articles, especially on metaethics and epistemology Morality and Self-Interest This page... necessary role in the decision procedures we ought to use Where the interests of others are not at issue, morality does not come into play: there is no morality for an agent stranded alone on a desert island Thus, on such a view, morality and justice, understood loosely to encompass all fair dealings between people, are often seen to have the same scope Typically, on this conception, morality requires... morality as necessary but insufficient for a well-lived life, and that other nonmoral goods are also necessary to self-interest Such positions are challenged by situations in which there is tension in trying to preserve both morality and these nonmoral goods.5 A more extreme version of Within takes the proper understanding of morality and self-interest to show that there can be no tension between... minimum A more negative program might find “live-ability” to be irrelevant to the formulation of moral demands, and any reconciliation between morality and self-interest would be mere wishful thinking On such a view, if morality is regard for others and not for the self, then the two are defined incompatibly, and such is the case when the former is conceived as a check on the latter As such they are more frequently... has dominion over the other, and any congruence between the two is accidental and likely to be rare (Finlay) The situation that emerges from adopting Within’s conception develops differently With regard to replying to the egoist skeptical of morality, Within’s general strategy is to show that one cannot both look out for one’s self-interest and ignore the demands of morality Morality is seen as at least... conceptual possibilities in which a relation between morality and self-interest can be articulated, it is no wonder that progress on how these ought to be related has been so slow and difficult We must somehow—or decide whether we wish to—distinguish between what morality commonly means and what it ought to mean, between what most people think and what we all ought to think The same is true for “selfinterest”,... that morality and self-interest constitute distinct normative perspectives or domains, such that morality is an external force that imposes itself on self-interest Those who accept Without’s conception of morality may differ over how frequently these two domains are incompatible due to their prescribing contradictory behavior One may also be a moral skeptic while sharing Without’s conception of morality. .. conceptions of morality currently at play in the philosophical literature and employing them differentially affects how the relationship of morality to self-interest is conceived.1 The first conception may be thought of as the social conception of morality It begins with the question of how one ought to behave toward others Morality is seen as having a final authority over our lives and the interests... distinction between “formal” and “substantive”, see Annas’ contribution within; see also Williams, 1985, p 32.) Given the Socratic conception of morality, however, and in contrast to the social conception, rabid, selfish egoism still represents a form of morality, however mistaken it may be As noted, these two conceptions of morality will represent the relationship of morality to self-interest differently... the social conception, morality is defined without reference to self-interest, and for the purposes of this introduction and the structure of the volume as a whole, we may refer to a defender of such a view as “Without” Given the Socratic conception, morality is defined within the terms of self-interest, given that it is assumed that living as well as possible is in an agent’s self-interest Unsurprisingly, . Virtue, Self-Interest, and Human Nature 177 Ralph Wedgwood 10 Virtue Ethics and the Charge of Egoism 205 Julia Annas B. Morality as Indistinguishable from Self-Interest 11 Morality, Self, and Others. formulation of moral demands, and any reconciliation between morality and self-interest would be mere wishful thinking. On such a view, if morality is regard for others and not for the self,.