The Natures of Moral Acts

Abstract

Normative ethics asks: What makes right acts right? W. D. Ross attempted to answer this question in The Right and the Good (1930). Most theorists have agreed that Ross provided no systematic explanatory answers. Ross's intuitionism lacks any decision procedure, and, as McNaughton (2002: 91) states, it ‘turns out after all to have nothing general to say about the relative stringency of our basic duties’. Here I will show that my own Rossian intuitionism does have a systematic way of explaining what makes right acts right. Deontological theories have struggled to say what internal to acts could make them right. From Price to Ross, the striking but uninformative answer has been the nature of the act. In this paper I will provide a Rossian theory of the moral natures of acts. It contains a set of self-evident principles of moral stringency and other considerations that can assist agents in deciding what prima facie duty overrides what.

((D)(E-)) Valuation of the EU’s “Moral Power” in the European Neighbourhood (Policy) (ENP)

“…was perceived as a time-wise opportune punishment of Turkey for the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, rather than a 'moral act' (Kaspar, 2019).…”

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“…It is the freedom of expression that allows a human to make moral decisions and consciously control their moral actions aimed at achieving the goal of resolving moral conflicts. Moral values formation, in addition to the consistency of moral norms with their moral self-determination, is characterized by a practical act of their approval in relevant moral situations -a moral act (Kaspar, 2019). Therefore, the formation of moral values as the basis of the moral self-awareness of the individual is a multifaceted process conditioned by the causal relationships, which affect their worldview formation (Stringer, 2021).…”

“…The development of moral values is carried out in a particular sociomoral situation in society, which inherently differ as fragments of social evolution, which determine both the process of formation and content of these human values (Curry et al, 2019). If a human adheres to the relevant principles of moral behaviour and moral norms in their moral activity, then they become obligatory, transforming into their moral values, which are reflected in their moral actions (Kaspar, 2019). The evidence is the fact that the individual "can resist moral evil, even when this will clearly lead to the experience of loneliness" (Horowski, 2020: 591).…”

“…Values form the basis of human life, its real interaction with the outside world (Buchtel, 2020;de Vries, 2019). The value system covers the full range of human existence, as values express significance by acting as internal stimuli produced externally through emotional expressions, judgments, behaviour (Capes, 2019;Kaspar, 2019;Maslova et al, 2020;Severini, 2021). The sphere of values existence is universal and boundless since the infinite universe has long been a philosophical, cognitive, ethical, aesthetic value for humanity (Knobe et al, 2006;Sagiv et al, 2017;Vidal, 2012).…”