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3 - Manners of Action

from Part I - Dimensions of Moral Conduct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2023

Robert Audi
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
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Summary

Ethics has tended to concentrate on (1) what we should do, (2) virtues of character, or (3) the importance of motivation in appraising actions. All three are ethically important. But there is a dimension of moral responsibility that should have a place beside obligations to act, virtues of character, and appraisals of actions in relation to their motivation. It is the manner of actions. This can be right or wrong, an object of intention, and behavior for a reason. Interpersonal relations are not a behavioral grid with fixed points representing only act-types. This chapter explores manners of action. The result is a wider conception of acting rightly than the common understanding on which (despite the adverb) it is simply doing the right thing; a partial account of how acting rightly figures in the content of intention; and a sketch of the moral dimensions of the manners in which we act.

Type
Chapter
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Of Moral Conduct
A Theory of Obligation, Reasons, and Value
, pp. 39 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Manners of Action
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.006
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  • Manners of Action
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Manners of Action
  • Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Book: Of Moral Conduct
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266987.006
Available formats
×