The Meta-Ethical Distinction between Duty and Desire, and the Normativity of Moral Acts

Abstract

If an equivalence between what we ought to do and what we desire to do, in the realm of morality, could be consistently established, an ethical theory willing to use such an argument would still be presented to serious problems of justification concerning the normativity of the moral judgments proffered by its followers. This negative hypothesis, we will argue, demonstrates that moral norms can only be effective if we assume that they are preceded by a judgment of value and bear binding force.