Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Groundwork: Some distinctions
- 2 Moral obligation: An analysis
- 3 The dynamics of obligation
- 4 Conditional obligation
- 5 Prima facie obligation
- 6 Actualism and possibilism
- 7 Dilemmas
- 8 Supererogation
- 9 Cooperation
- Postscript
- Appendix: List of propositions
- List of works cited
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Groundwork: Some distinctions
- 2 Moral obligation: An analysis
- 3 The dynamics of obligation
- 4 Conditional obligation
- 5 Prima facie obligation
- 6 Actualism and possibilism
- 7 Dilemmas
- 8 Supererogation
- 9 Cooperation
- Postscript
- Appendix: List of propositions
- List of works cited
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
Summary
On October 18,1993, the News and Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, carried the following item:
Dear Ann Landers: I am 37 years old and have never married. I dated a 35-year-old divorced man for five years. “Jack” and I were very much in love. I wore his engagement ring for a year, and we talked of marriage, but we bickered a lot. I assumed this was just our style of communication.
We decided to get premarital counseling about our never-ending arguments. One counselor said our values were too different. Another counselor said we were made for each other. I postponed the wedding because Jack wouldn't continue with the counseling. Also, he wanted to elope, and I wanted a church wedding.
Last January, I went over to Jack's house and caught him with his secretary. It turned out this 21-year-old gorgeous thing had moved in with him. Jack insists that he doesn't love her, but she cooks and cleans for him, which I never did.
Ann, we've been seeing each other behind the secretary's back. We agree that we love each other, but he's afraid he hasn't the will-power or self-discipline to remain true to me. I still want to marry him.
I went to a doctor who told me I was depressed. I've tried dating other men, but I have no desire for them. What should I do?
Indianapolis DilemmaI record this for two reasons. First, its comic value. Perhaps, as you were reading it, a slight smile played over your lips. I hope so; the rest of this book is dead serious and will afford very little opportunity for amusement.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Concept of Moral Obligation , pp. ix - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996