ABSTRACT
In the book from which this reading is taken * , Mackie argues that morality is subjective: it does not rest on values that have any foundation in reality and that we can be said to discover. But morality does exist among the members of a society as a set of practices which have come to be mutually agreed upon to perform a function that all have an interest in, the protection of their basic interests. The basic morality that is agreed upon consists of constraints on injuring others, on unfair competition, on theft, on failing to honour agreements and so on. The feature of human beings that makes such constraints necessary also makes it difficult to make them operative: the fact that we have limited sympathies – our natural concern for the interests of others is strong in the case of a quite restricted circle, beyond which it weakens progressively as our relations with others become less close. In this reading Mackie draws on models from the mathematical study of game theory to illuminate the problem posed by limited sympathies and what is needed in a solution.
