Ch. 2 Finnis - Clarifications

Finnis thinks the idea of basic human goods

should be accepted

Finnis says “unfettered reason“ should be unfettered from

feelings

Finnis says that the life and death of Socrates as portrayed by Plato gives witness to what general and abstract moral absolute

better to suffer wrong than to do it

Finnis agrees with Socrates that “person A harms person B“ and “person B harms person A“ are

very different morally

Finnis claims that the moral actions should be defined in terms of

the choices behind the action

Pre moral foundations/8 basic goods are…

• Known by analyzing actions and thinking back on choices

• something to be discovered behind choices

• ultimate purposes, not instrumentals

• lead to human fulfillment

• inexhaustible and irreducible

What are the 8 basic human goods?

1. human life (forms: maintenance, transmission, safety )

2. knowledge (practical and theoretical)

3. aesthetic experience (experience of beauty)

4. excellence of work (craftsmanship gets an enduring product)

5. excellence of play (sport, pleasurable activity, no end outcome/product)

6. inner peace (psychological health)

7. peace with others (friendship, harmonious political order)

8. religion

What is the first principle of morality?

Do good and avoid evil

• says AND - you have to do both

• doesn’t say ALL; you don’t have to fulfill all 8 basic goods

• be fully reasonable; just because there’s a reason doesn’t mean it’s fully reasonable. If it is unreasonable, it is immoral

• it is self-evident = true in the things talked about

More criticisms of utilitarianism

• leads to deliberation which is self-contradictory

• it contradicts the goal of any moral theory: to guide free choices