School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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Why should I be moral?

SINGER, PETER ( 1969)

“The question has, as I have already said, been a central concern of moral philosophers from the time of Plato until the Nineteenth Century. It would be tedious to list the philosophers who have discussed the issue, for the list would exclude hardly any of the major moral philosophers of the past. The names of some of them will occur in the course of this thesis.” … “In the Conclusion, I consider the present state of the question and argue that 'Why should I be moral?', despite its age-old importance, has yet to be answered. I maintain that the question is vital not only to the individual but also to society, and that if changes are made on a social level, it may be possible to answer it. This raises issues of political philosophy. A society in which the question could .be answered would be a step closer to being an ideal society than a society in which this is not the case.”