Quotation
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“The concepts of obligation and duty — moral obligation and moral duty, that is to say — and of what is morally right and wrong, and of the moral sense of 'ought', ought to be jettisoned if this is psychologically possible.”
G. E. M. Anscombe · Analytic philosophy · Modern · 1958
What does it mean?
The concepts of moral obligation and of the moral 'ought', Anscombe says, ought to be jettisoned if that is psychologically possible. She thinks the everyday 'ought' is a survival of a divine-law ethic after the lawgiver has been dropped, and that the word has become empty force. A rival reading hears nihilism, a ban on taking harm seriously. She is a severe moral thinker. She would rather we speak of justice, cruelty, and the virtues, and she thinks we should stop doing moral philosophy until we have a better philosophy of psychology.
Did G. E. M. Anscombe really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Anscombe's own English, the famous recommendation of the paper. It is one of three theses. She also says we should stop doing moral philosophy until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology, and that differences between English moral philosophers have been exaggerated.
Where it comes from
'Modern Moral Philosophy', Philosophy 33 (1958)
Approximate date: 1958.
How to use it
When you tell a colleague in a Leeds office that they ought to stay late, ask what you mean if you do not mean a law. She thinks the answer is often nothing clear, and that 'unjust' or 'dishonest' would do more honest work. You may still have a reason. The paper asks you not to hide it inside a special moral tone.
A mindset reading
The recommendation is one of three theses in the 1958 paper. She also says the differences between the English moral philosophers of her moment had been exaggerated. The fame of the jettisoning sentence can hide the other two.
Understand the philosophy
'Modern Moral Philosophy' is a founding document of the revival of virtue ethics in analytic philosophy. Foot and others take up the challenge in different ways. The paper is an argument, not a mood of anti-morality.
- ethics
- knowledge
- virtue
FAQ
What does it mean?
The concepts of moral obligation and of the moral 'ought', Anscombe says, ought to be jettisoned if that is psychologically possible. She thinks the everyday 'ought' is a survival of a divine-law ethic after the lawgiver has been dropped, and that the word has become empty force. A rival reading hears nihilism, a ban on taking harm seriously. She is a severe moral thinker. She would rather we speak of justice, cruelty, and the virtues, and she thinks we should stop doing moral philosophy until we have a better philosophy of psychology.
Did G. E. M. Anscombe really say this?
Well attested. Anscombe's own English, the famous recommendation of the paper. It is one of three theses. She also says we should stop doing moral philosophy until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology, and that differences between English moral philosophers have been exaggerated.
Which work is it in?
'Modern Moral Philosophy', Philosophy 33 (1958) Approximate date: 1958.