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2 - Moral Worth

from Part I - Dimensions of Moral Conduct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2023

Robert Audi
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
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Summary

The right thing can be done for the wrong reason. An action might meet an obligation such as paying a debt when the agent’s doing of that, the act-token, is motivated purely by fear of reprisal and thereby fails to be morally creditworthy. The action might, in Kant’s parlance, lack moral worth. Much that we do is based on more than one motive, as where self-interest aligns with moral obligation. Can we, at will, control which of the aligned motives will determine why we do the thing in question? Does morality require that we try to see that moral motivation – or at least some unselfish motive – determines our actions toward others? And if we act for both a moral reason and a prudential one, to what extent, if at all, is the action morally creditworthy? This chapter explores these problems and sketches answers to these and related questions.

Type
Chapter
Information
Of Moral Conduct
A Theory of Obligation, Reasons, and Value
, pp. 21 - 38
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Moral Worth
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.005
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  • Moral Worth
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Moral Worth
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.005
Available formats
×