W.D. Ross’ Prima Facie Duty
Vs.
Jonathan Peter Dancy’s Particularism
Asante Mizan
116799840
Friday, April 12th, 2014
PP207
Asante Mizan
116799840
Friday, April 12th, 2014
PP207
Final Paper:
W.D. Ross’ Prima Facie Duty vs. Jonathan Peter Dancy’s Particularism
Moral principles are essential to determining morality in all situations. W.D. Ross’ prima facie duties theory provides us with a thorough and systematic ethical code of conduct that allows us to value and respect the rights and liberties of others while enabling a person to live a prosperous life. The quality of our lives is directly affected by the choices that we make concerning our interactions with others around us. It is a fact, that throughout life, we find often find ourselves at an impasse where deciding what is the appropriate or ethical action or behaviour in a conversation, relationship, or situation can be very difficult and stressful. How do people in a community come to share these ethical standards or even establish them? Ethical theorists like Scottish philosopher W. D. Ross and British philosopher Jonathan Peter Dancy provide theories that attempt to establish a code of conduct so to speak in hopes of guiding the behaviours of societies so that they will be able to deal with the complex ethical problems that they may face on a day to day basis (Tsu). To solve the ethical questions of societal life, W. D. Ross proposed his prima facie duty theory which highlighted seven core duties that he felt were required to outline and govern ethical behaviour in all situations. His theory also incorporated a moral/legal obligation that compelled moral agents to follow these rules. Dancy’s Particularism theory suggested that ethical behaviour should not be decided by a core set of honorable principles, but instead actions should be judged based upon particular context in which they are carried out. Both these theories propose excellent ways to interact...