Moral Intuitionism Joh iaIntuitionism holds that we can discover either the right thing to do or the right rules by considering our deepest intuitions. Intuitionism is the moral theory which claims that you know what is right. We know, for example, that murdering, breaking promises, and Ita Rear VCR Kereta© GE Moore, Principia Ethica: “If 1am asked, What is good? my answer is that good is good, and that is the Poa neonates cel omit kel eect nae roans that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about it. But CULE CC cm mrt mrtcnny an Cakes ces Tet at My point is that good is a simple notion, just as yellow is a simple notion; that, just as you cannot, by any manner of means, explain to anyone who does not already know it, what yellow is, so you cannot explain what good is.”Conscience can discover what is right and wrong in every sree tate RD Bea ret eerste eee soe elt tT© An expression of intuitional act-deontological ethics is found in the famous moral sermons of the Bishop of Durham, Joseph Butler (1692-1752): {If ] any plain honest man, before he engages in any course of action, ask himself, Is this | am going about right, or is it wrong? . .. | do not in the least doubt but that this question would be answered agreeably to truth and virtue, by almost any fair man in almost any eotcaer nietIntuitionism teaches three main things: © There are real objective moral truths that are independent of human Denes © These are fundamental truths that can't be broken down into parts or defined by reference to anything except other moral truths. @ Human beings can discover these truths by using their minds in a PEUeetl ete CencWilliam David Ross (1877-1971)W.D Ross’s Intuitionism and Prima Facie Duty ©The 20th Century philosopher W. D. Ross [Sir David Ross] (1877- 1971) suggested that it would be helpful to look at two kinds of duty: Coe ee tEm CC Cre tao @ Actual dutiesPrima facie duties Cees eae erent Ronee trea sain R cece NEM etc Receratten meaning 'on first appearances’ or ‘by first instance’). It can be known to be correct if a person thinks about them and understands them:“When we have reached sufficient mental maturity and have given sufficient attention to the proposition it is evident without any need of cco emer Re Route Conca ren Bt W D Ross, The Right and the Good, 1930 Ir should be promoted, "all things considered.” It can be outweighed by other prima facie dutiRoss’s list of prima facie duties: Sane ney COM NSertensCoyay © Gratitude cop srantas tected Feolotyecavontonts © Non-maleficence (avoiding actions that do harm)Fidelity. We should strive to keep promises and be honest and truthful. Reparation. We should make amends when we have wronged someone else. Gratitude. We should be grateful to others when they perform actions that benefit us and we should try to return the favor. Non-injury (or non-maleficence). We should refrain from harming others either Aone ce eT neBeneficence. We should be kind to others and to try to improve their health, wisdom, security, happiness, and well-being. Selfimprovement. We should strive to improve our own health, Soe RMRCe TSA Tent ee tice esetCPA Ce Ee ere MCCS ee tam dome ore een elec RUE Cee doing the act, but one that can be outweighed by other moral Sreahrere An act is a prima facie wrong when there is a moral reason against doing the act, but one that can be outweighed by other moral SreahterePrima Facie Duties (The Promise/Accident Example) Se enteenemnce Reece tnte *On the way there, I witness an accident. *If I keep my promise to meet my friend, someone will die. * If | break my promise, I can help at the accident, and save a life.I thus have a prima facie duty to meet my friend (since I promised that I would meet him, and that I promised to do something is a moral reason in favor of doing it). © But I also have a prima facie duty to help at the accident (since this would prevent serious harm to someone, and that an act would prevent harm is a moral reason in favor of doing it).“If I have promised to meet a friend at a particular time for some trivial purpose, I should certainly think myself justified in breaking my engagement if by doing so I could prevent a serious accident or Latte stom OMe CRU Tee Ln oleae -W.D Ross (p. 18)©For the estimation of the comparative stringency of these prima facie obligations no general rules can, so far as I can see, be laid lone © We can only say that a great deal of stringency belongs to the duties of ‘perfect obligation’-the duties of keeping our promises, of repairing wrongs we have done, and of returning the equivalent of services we have received.Right acts can be distinguished from wrong acts only as being those which, of all those possible for the agent in the circumstances, have the greatest balance of prima facie rightness ... Over their prima facie wrongness ... .” - WD Ross (p. 41)“It is worth while to try to state more definitely the nature of the acts that are right. ...It is obvious that any of the acts that we do has lata CMs CURMRS teed bes an ratedtnod mere maetrae Com eceye CE TaC Meets probability is that any act, however right it be, will have adverse ices om See faneseRt people: Simlerihy any omens cat call probably have beneficial effects on some deserving people. Every act therefore, viewed in some aspects, will be prima facie right, and SUConicebteMereocmmerer tm cto acre aActual Duties © This is the duty people are left with after they have weighed up all the conflicting prima facie duties that apply in a particular case:“The ground of the actual rightness of the act is that, of all acts possible in the circumstances, it is that whose prima facie rightness in CS Coce RL Nom eee em Cored eNmeOUM oe he Keeani pela Cruces OM eMeTmccyecoee mun OsB ta eee rTM Coton sera WD Ross, The Right and The Good, 1930This sense of our particular duty in particular circumstances, preceded and informed by the fullest reflection we can bestow on the Plas Taee lI icM octane tea mCi Cloo Comet Las tae Reacorel batt (RLM OC NYS to our duty. - WD Ross (pp. 41-42)References BBC: Duty-Based Ethics, Retrieved from BBC - Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics. © David, Kaspar. 2012. Intuitionism. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. © Pojman, Louis. 2005. How We Should Live? An Introduction to Ethics. USA: AY CTS onan © Snare, Frank. 1974. The Definition of Prima Facie Duties. Philosophical Quarterly 24 (96): 235-44, doi:10.2307/2217936.