Principia Ethica · Chapter
Preface to the 1903 Edition explained
Moore introduces his project of clarifying the fundamental questions of ethics, distinguishing between intrinsic value and right action, and critiquing the confusion that has plagued ethical philosophy.
What happens
Moore introduces his project of clarifying the fundamental questions of ethics, distinguishing between intrinsic value and right action, and critiquing the confusion that has plagued ethical philosophy. He outlines his method, his debt to Sidgwick and Brentano, and his intention to provide a 'Prolegomena to any future Ethics that can possibly pretend to be scientific.'
Themes in this chapter
Method of Ethical Reasoning
Moore emphasizes the need to clearly distinguish questions and identify relevant evidence, laying out his method for ethical inquiry.
Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Value
Moore distinguishes the question of what things are good in themselves (intrinsic value) from questions about right action.
The Ideal and Good in Itself
Moore announces his intention to identify classes of intrinsic goods and evils in Chapter VI.
Characters to notice
- G. E. Moore
Author of the preface, setting out his aims and acknowledging influences and oversights.
- Immanuel Kant
Referenced via the allusion to Kant's 'Prolegomena' as a model for Moore's own work.
- Henry Sidgwick
Moore follows Sidgwick's usage of 'Intuitions' for self-evident propositions, but distinguishes his own view from Sidgwick's Intuitionism.
- Franz Brentano
Moore acknowledges Brentano's work as closely resembling his own, noting agreements and differences.
Key passages
“I have endeavoured to write 'Prolegomena to any future Ethics that can possibly pretend to be scientific.'”
Moore aims to lay the groundwork for a rigorous, scientific approach to ethics.
This echoes Kant's 'Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics' and signals Moore's ambition.
“I have tried to show exactly what it is that we ask about a thing, when we ask whether it ought to exist for its own sake, is good in itself or has intrinsic value; and exactly what it is that we ask about an action, when we ask whether we ought to do it, whether it is a right action or a duty.”
Moore clarifies the two fundamental ethical questions: what has intrinsic value, and what actions are right.
This distinction is central to Moore's project of clearing up confusion in ethics.
“It becomes plain that, for answers to the first question, no relevant evidence whatever can be adduced: from no other truth, except themselves alone, can it be inferred that they are either true or false.”
Propositions about intrinsic value are self-evident and cannot be proved or disproved by other truths.
Moore here aligns with his view of 'Intuitions' as incapable of proof.