試すGOLD- Free

How To Be Really Good

Philosophy Now|August/September 2022
Robert Griffiths considers what it takes to actually be a mensch.
- Robert Griffiths
How To Be Really Good

Research shows that most people think of themselves as nice people (see for example, 'People think they're nicer than they actually are', Rachel Hosie, Independent, 13.3.17). What they seem to mean b by this is that they do little things to help people, such as give up a seat on a train. This is what many people probably think being a 'good person' involves - doing good things. However, the same people admit that very often they do not help if it involves a more significant sacrifice. So, if they think of themselves as good, and they think of being good as doing good things, they realise that they are not as good as they could be. They are quite good but they could be a lot better.

Peter Singer has argued that if we see being good as doing good things, and if we really want to be good, then we have a moral obligation to help others up to the point where if we help them any more we would make ourselves worse off than they are (see for example, 'Famine, Affluence and Morality', 1972). Singer admit that not many people would live like this, and in later writings he has played this obligation down, suggesting that people who want to be good should only give up to 25% of their wealth to those less well off. But it's clear that, deep down, he thinks the more demanding principle holds as a moral requirement.

Loveless Goodness

Singer's view is based on his Utilitarian approach to morality. In Utilitarianism actions are judged morally good in so far as they promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. Therefore the best action is the one that promotes the best consequences in this sense. Singer at his most demanding exhorts people to do the most good they can do.

この記事は Philosophy Now の August/September 2022 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Philosophy Now の August/September 2022 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

PHILOSOPHY NOWのその他の記事すべて表示
Affirmative Action for Androids
Philosophy Now

Affirmative Action for Androids

Jimmy Alfonso Licon asks, when should we prioritise android rights?

time-read
10+ 分  |
June/July 2025
Welcome to the Civilization of the Liar's Paradox
Philosophy Now

Welcome to the Civilization of the Liar's Paradox

Slavoj Žižek uncovers political paradoxes of lying.

time-read
10+ 分  |
June/July 2025
The Importance of the Purple
Philosophy Now

The Importance of the Purple

Massimo Pigliucci looks for threads of integrity in a morally compromised world.

time-read
3 分  |
June/July 2025
Ethics for the Age of AI
Philosophy Now

Ethics for the Age of AI

Mahmoud Khatami asks, can machines make good moral decisions?

time-read
10 分  |
June/July 2025
Anand Vaidya (1976-2024)
Philosophy Now

Anand Vaidya (1976-2024)

Manjula Menon on the short but full career of a 'disciplinary trespasser'.

time-read
7 分  |
June/July 2025
Studying Smarter with AI?
Philosophy Now

Studying Smarter with AI?

Max Gottschlich on sense and nonsense when using AI in academia.

time-read
5 分  |
June/July 2025
Excusing God
Philosophy Now

Excusing God

Raymond Tallis highlights the problem of evil.

time-read
7 分  |
June/July 2025
Stephen Fry
Philosophy Now

Stephen Fry

Perhaps unshockingly for someone who is an actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer, Stephen Fry has a deep interest in words and how we use them. After hearing him lecture on that subject, Marcel Steinbauer-Lewis asked him about Artificial Intelligence and how it connects with the extraordinary lure of language.

time-read
8 分  |
June/July 2025
Is VR Meaningful Escapism?
Philosophy Now

Is VR Meaningful Escapism?

Amir Haj-Bolouri enquires into possible meaning through technology.

time-read
9 分  |
June/July 2025
What Simone de Beauvoir Got — And Didn't Get – About Motherhood
Philosophy Now

What Simone de Beauvoir Got — And Didn't Get – About Motherhood

Nura Hossainzadeh argues that motherhood is both physical and transcendent.

time-read
10+ 分  |
June/July 2025

当サイトではサービスの提供および改善のためにクッキーを使用しています。当サイトを使用することにより、クッキーに同意したことになります。 Learn more