Thinker · TH-0420
W. D. Ross
W. D. Ross was a Scottish philosopher and classical scholar who spent his career at Oxford, where he was Provost of Oriel College and…
Also known as Sir William David Ross, Sir David Ross
1877 – 1971 · Thurso, Edinburgh, Oxford
Traditions: Analytic
W. D. Ross was a Scottish philosopher and classical scholar who spent his career at Oxford, where he was Provost of Oriel College and edited the Oxford translation of Aristotle. In The Right and the Good he defended a pluralist, intuitionist ethics: we have several prima facie duties, such as fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement and non-maleficence, which are self-evident on reflection. When they conflict, no master principle settles the case; judgement in the particular situation determines what we ought to do.
Key ideas
- There are several irreducible prima facie duties rather than one supreme principle.
- The prima facie duties are self-evident to a mature mind on reflection.
- When duties conflict, our actual duty is found by judgement in the particular case.
- Rightness and goodness are distinct: right acts are not simply those producing the most good.
Major works
- Aristotle (1923)
- The Right and the Good (1930)
- Foundations of Ethics (1939)
In the conversation
- Discussion The buyer at the gate offers more than the cooperative: does a promise bind when breaking it pays?
- Debate Strong moral intuitions count as evidence, in the same way that perceptions count as evidence
- Debate Ross was right: there is no master principle of morality, only several duties weighed by judgement
In the Coordinates
The questions of philosophy where W. D. Ross takes a place, from The Coordinates of Thought.
- 3.1.3 Moral Epistemology How would you check whether a moral claim is true?
- 3.2 Normative Ethics What should I look at to tell whether an act is right?
- 3.2.2 Duty-Based Approaches Are some things wrong even when they would do good?