Isserow, J orcid.org/0000-0001-5900-8363 (2022) Doubts about Duty as a Secondary Motive. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 105 (2). pp. 276-298. ISSN 0031-8205
Abstract
Many follow Kant in thinking that morally worthy actions must be carried out solely from the motive of duty. This outlook faces two challenges: (1) The One Feeling Too Few problem (actions that issue from, say, compassion also seem to have moral worth), and (2) The One Thought Too Many problem (some actions have moral worth precisely because they’re not motivated by duty). These challenges haven’t led Kantians to dispense with the motive of duty. Instead, they have proposed to push it into the background. We should not (the thought goes) construe duty as a primary motive, a consideration that motivates the agent to act. Duty is best thought of as a secondary motive, a background concern that constrains her choice. Since it is consistent with acting from duty at the secondary level that one is motivated at the primary level by compassion, this move is thought to overcome both challenges. In this paper, I argue that secondary motive views don’t live up to their stated ambitions. Such proposals either fail to make progress on issues with which primary motive views continue to grapple, or they render the motive of duty ill-suited to underwrite a plausible account of moral worth.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Inc. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Isserow, J. Doubts about Duty as a Secondary Motive. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 2022; 105: 276– 298., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12821. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2021 08:42 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jul 2023 00:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/phpr.12821 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176150 |