Rossian Pluralism and Prima Facie Duties

Rossian ethics is a pluralistic, intuitionist deontology on which there are several irreducible prima facie duties whose relative stringency in any situation determines one's actual duty.

Definition

A prima facie duty is a feature of an act that gives it some genuine moral weight as a duty, which may be outweighed by competing prima facie duties; one's actual duty is the act favoured by the weightiest prima facie duties on balance in the situation.

Scope

This topic covers W. D. Ross's theory of prima facie duties and the broader ethical intuitionism it represents: the list of basic duties, the distinction between prima facie and actual (all-things-considered) duty, the role of moral perception in resolving conflicts, and the epistemology of self-evident moral principles. It contrasts this monism-rejecting view with both Kantian and consequentialist approaches.

Core questions

• What are the basic, irreducible duties, and can they be reduced to a single principle?
• How is the distinction between prima facie and actual duty to be understood?
• How are conflicts among prima facie duties resolved without a master rule?
• Are the basic moral principles self-evident, and how are they known?

Key theories

The plurality of prima facie duties

Ross's claim that there are several distinct prima facie duties, including fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence, none derivable from the others.

Moral intuitionism

The epistemological view that the basic prima facie principles are self-evident and known by reflective intuition, while judgments about actual duty in particular cases are fallible and uncertain.

History

Drawing on Prichard's (1912) anti-theoretical intuitionism, Ross developed his account of prima facie duties in The Right and the Good (1930) and refined it in Foundations of Ethics (1939). His pluralism was offered as a more faithful account of ordinary moral thought than the single-principle theories of Kant and the utilitarians, and it has been revived in contemporary intuitionism.

Debates

Resolving conflicts without a master principle

Critics charge that without a ranking rule Rossian pluralism gives no determinate guidance when duties conflict; defenders reply that practical wisdom and moral perception, not an algorithm, settle particular cases.

The epistemology of self-evidence

Whether basic moral principles can be genuinely self-evident, and how appeals to intuition avoid mere assertion, remains a central challenge for intuitionist deontology.

Key figures

• W. D. Ross
• H. A. Prichard
• G. E. Moore
• Robert Audi

Seminal works

• ross1930
• ross1939
• prichard1912

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a prima facie duty and an actual duty?

A prima facie duty is a morally relevant consideration that counts in favour of an act; an actual (all-things-considered) duty is what one ought to do once all the competing prima facie duties in the situation have been weighed.

Why is Ross's theory called pluralistic?

Because it holds that there are several basic, irreducible duties rather than a single supreme principle such as the principle of utility or the categorical imperative.