Friday 18 November 2011

Do we have duty to do what is morally good?

We do not necessarily have a duty to do what is morally good.  A morally good action may require an individual to make a sacrifice on his part - for example, give some of his income to charity.  It is morally good precisely because it is not a duty - an individual goes beyond his duty.  If it were his duty, then the action would not be morally good.  It would simply be a requirement of him.

To understand this, we can use a simple example - should I give £10 to a homeless man on the street?  If I were not to give it, my inaction would not be morally bad.  It is morally neutral.  For the action to be morally bad, I would have to cause the homeless individual a direct, first-order harm.  If, on the other hand, I stole £10 from the man, then it would be morally bad since I have caused direct harm.

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