An Introduction to Elizabeth Anscombe’s Modern Moral Philosophy - A Macat Philosophy Analysis

In her 1958 paper, “Modern Moral Philosophy,” Elizabeth (G. E. M.) Anscombe argues that what we understand as a moral obligation—what we “ought” to do—is an obligation to God. In her view this idea is considered outdated by philosophers in the modern world, and therefore it should be replaced with ethics concentrating on virtues, and the philosophy of psychology. Watch Macat’s short video for a great introduction to Elizabeth Anscombe’s “Modern Moral Philosophy,” one of the most important philosophy works ever written.

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[TheGeneralGrievous]

I'm not an expert on Elizabeth Anscombe's philosophy but as far as I know she do not think that idea of objective moral obligations to God is 'outdated' and we should drop it. She herself was a practicing Roman Catholic. She belived that if we want to reject monotheistic religion, as many modern ethicists do, we should go solely to virtue ethics of Aristotle, Aquinas etc. because idea of objective moral rules/obligations like Kantian ones make no sense without reference to God.

Not to mention that ideas of virtue ethics can completly coexist with the idea of Eternal/Divine Law. They are present together e.g. in philosophies of many Scholastics.

[crturford]

This is an utterly dimwitted video with a shockingly poor attempt to explain Anscombe's views.

[sensennsen]

I remember when I was in high school, Macat explained the treatise of John Locke. I wonder why they hid it.

[aliciacoyle]

I would suggest stopping the video before the chef analogy. It is a terrible example and in no way represents the work of GEM Anscombe or any other coherent philosophical position I am aware of. Source: MMP & Intention. My background is a semester studying her work at New College Oxford.

Also. She is not a utilitarian.

[nocturnalrectum]

So. . . she too is a utilitarian? Did I miss something?

[klausehrhardt]

Well, it is not any bolognese any more. But it is not hard to see that the recipe was not lost. The whole argument is logically valid, yet the premisse is only hipothecalilly true, that is, it is false. I do not argue about the validity, I reject the assumption, and with it, the conclusion. The recipe is not lost.

[jadzeli]

The Bolognese should be vegan! We ought to respect animals and nature too. 😉