Philosophy Talk: Principles - What are they good for?
Philosophers and laymen commonly assume that morality is principled. For many years philosophers have thought that the fundamental project of moral philosophy is to find and formulate exception less moral principles—principles that capture all and only morally right actions (e.g., an act is morally right if and only if it maximizes utility). Also, it is not uncommon to hear people praise someone for being "a person of principle." The presumption that morality is principled, though widely shared, has rarely been argued for. In this talk, we will question this presumption. We will ask whether there are any good reasons to believe that morality is principled, and whether we can get along—in our moral theorizing and in our daily lives—without principles.