Ideas of Rosalind Hursthouse, by Theme

[New Zealand, fl. 1996, Of the Open University in Britain, and then Auckland University, NZ]

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16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 2. Ethical Self

4363	The word 'person' is useless in ethics, because what counts as a good or bad self-conscious being?

20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / d. Weakness of will

4355	There may be inverse akrasia, where the agent's action is better than their judgement recommends

20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 2. Acting on Beliefs / a. Acting on beliefs

4325	Must all actions be caused in part by a desire, or can a belief on its own be sufficient?

20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / b. Intellectualism

4351	It is a fantasy that only through the study of philosophy can one become virtuous

20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 5. Action Dilemmas / a. Dilemmas

4329	After a moral dilemma is resolved there is still a 'remainder', requiring (say) regret

4330	Deontologists resolve moral dilemmas by saying the rule conflict is merely apparent

4341	Involuntary actions performed in tragic dilemmas are bad because they mar a good life

4340	You are not a dishonest person if a tragic dilemma forces you to do something dishonest

22. Metaethics / B. The Good / 1. Goodness / d. Good as virtue

4358	Virtue may be neither sufficient nor necessary for eudaimonia

22. Metaethics / B. The Good / 1. Goodness / g. Consequentialism

4337	Teenagers are often quite wise about ideals, but rather stupid about consequences

22. Metaethics / B. The Good / 2. Happiness / b. Eudaimonia

4324	Animals and plants can 'flourish', but only rational beings can have eudaimonia

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / a. Nature of virtue

4359	When it comes to bringing up children, most of us think that the virtues are the best bet

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / b. Basis of virtue

20195

Eudaimonia first; virtue is a trait which promotes it; right acts are what virtues produce [Zagzebski]

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / c. Particularism

4336	Any strict ranking of virtues or rules gets abandoned when faced with particular cases

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique

4334	Virtue ethics is open to the objection that it fails to show priority among the virtues

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / a. Natural virtue

4361	Good animals can survive, breed, feel characteristic pleasure and pain, and contribute to the group

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / c. Motivation for virtue

4349	Virtuous people may not be fully clear about their reasons for action

4352	Performing an act simply because it is virtuous is sufficient to be 'morally motivated' or 'dutiful'

4353	If moral motivation is an all-or-nothing sense of duty, how can children act morally?

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / h. Right feelings

4346	The emotions of sympathy, compassion and love are no guarantee of right action or acting well

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / i. Absolute virtues

4339	According to virtue ethics, two agents may respond differently, and yet both be right

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / j. Unity of virtue

4364	Being unusually virtuous in some areas may entail being less virtuous in others

4354	Maybe in a deeply poisoned character none of their milder character traits could ever be a virtue

4356	We are puzzled by a person who can show an exceptional virtue and also behave very badly

23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 1. Deontology

4327	Deontologists do consider consequences, because they reveal when a rule might apply

4335	'Codifiable' morality give rules for decisions which don't require wisdom

23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism

4338	Deontologists usually accuse utilitarians of oversimplifying hard cases

4328	Preference utilitarianism aims to be completely value-free, or empirical

4343	We are torn between utilitarian and deontological views of lying, depending on the examples

24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness

4365	We are distinct from other animals in behaving rationally - pursuing something as good, for reasons

28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / b. Euthyphro question

4350	If people are virtuous in obedience to God, would they become wicked if they lost their faith?