PRIMA FACIE DUTIES AND THE STRUCTURE OF ETHICAL EXPLANATIONS Cover Image

PRIMA FACIE DUŽNOSTI I STRUKTURA ETIČKOG OBJAŠNJENJA
PRIMA FACIE DUTIES AND THE STRUCTURE OF ETHICAL EXPLANATIONS

Author(s): Monika Jovanović
Subject(s): Epistemology, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy, German Idealism
Published by: Filozofsko društvo Srbije
Keywords: generalism/particularism; prima facie duties; reasons; ethical explanation; pluralism; deontological/teleological; act-centered/agent centered; normative/ deliberative relevance;

Summary/Abstract: I begin with the thesis that the most appropriate classification of ethical theories pertains to their structural characteristics and give the advantage to the particularism/ generalism dichotomy over the deontological/teleological and act-centered/agent-centered classifications. Subsequently I use the example of Ross’s ethics of prima facie duties to illustrate how this distinction can be properly applied to a seemingly problematic case. In the first part of the paper I aim to show that Ross’s view is, in spite of its use of deontological terminology, essentially particularist. I then examine the specificities of Ross’s pluralism and explore the connection between prima facie duties and normative moral reasons. In the second part of the paper I criticize Audi’s interpretation of Ross’s ethics and show that Ross’s view doesn’t have the normative implications that Audi ascribes to it.

  • Issue Year: 62/2019
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 53-64
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Serbian