ABSTRACT
‘Probably the only universal precondition for using the word “good”,’ writes Sir David Ross, ‘is the existence of a favourable attitude in ourselves towards the object.’ A judgment of approval can be regarded as moral judgment only on the following conditions: it must be based on, and given for moral reasons; it must be directed to concepts which are defined within the moral domain. Yet there seem to exist some moral judgments which seem to bear upon ‘goods’ or values defined in other domains. Values fulfilling the function of ends or objects of conduct can therefore not serve as a standard of moral evaluation: because of their irrelevancy to the moral status of a given action of which they are the ends; and because the essential characteristics of their nature as ends run counter and obstruct the course of unhampered moral evaluation.
