Scribd
Upload
176 views3 pages

Understanding Ross's Duty of Fidelity

William David Ross refers to prima facie duties, or duties that apply at first appearance. One such duty is the duty of fidelity, which involves keeping promises and commitments and not engaging in deception. Ross believes promises can be explicit or implicit based on reasonable expectations. The duty of fidelity generally overrides beneficence but exceptions can occur if keeping a promise would lead to greatly adverse consequences. Ross opposed utilitarian views that the production of good determines what is right, instead focusing on the nature of promises themselves. However, he conceded circumstances could require not fulfilling a promise if the consequences were very negative.

Uploaded by

Abby Surio
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
176 views3 pages

Understanding Ross's Duty of Fidelity

William David Ross refers to prima facie duties, or duties that apply at first appearance. One such duty is the duty of fidelity, which involves keeping promises and commitments and not engaging in deception. Ross believes promises can be explicit or implicit based on reasonable expectations. The duty of fidelity generally overrides beneficence but exceptions can occur if keeping a promise would lead to greatly adverse consequences. Ross opposed utilitarian views that the production of good determines what is right, instead focusing on the nature of promises themselves. However, he conceded circumstances could require not fulfilling a promise if the consequences were very negative.

Uploaded by

Abby Surio
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

William DaviD Ross DUTY OF FIDELITY

Submitted to: Mrs. Evangeline Bautista


Submitted by: Surio, Princess Abegail Catugas, Jerico Myco Guerrero, Joanner Paolo Besa, Sheena Kaye Ladino, Janice

Ross refers the principles of "prima facie" duty. ('Prima facie' is a Latin term meaning "at first appearance," or "immediately, clearly".) In cases where only one principle applies, or when more than one principle applies but these principles do not conflict, then determining one's actual duty will be straightforward. One of the duties of William David Ross is Duty of Fidelity. Duties of fidelity are duties to keep ones promises and contracts and not to engage in deception (promise-keeping, truth-telling). Ross describes them as "those resting on a promise or what may fairly be called an implicit promise, such as the implicit undertaking not to tell lies which seems to be implied in the act of entering into conversation or of writing books that purport to be history and not fiction, because Ross thinks that when we talk to others we are implicitly promising to be truthful. Duties of fidelity involve the promises you make to friends and loved ones. By taking these promises seriously and following through, you uphold your duties of fidelity. Such promises often materialize explicitly, meaning that you acknowledge them outright. Implicit promises hold as well. For example, a spouse may defy your expectations and have an extramarital affair. This constitutes a transgression of fidelity that hurts one or more other people. Fidelity normally overrides Beneficence. For example, keeping contracts (which falls under Fidelity) normally overrides random acts of kindness. Beneficence, non-injury, harm-prevention, and self-improvement in relation to lasting positive qualities such as knowledge, moral character, and skill often override any conflicting prima facie duty we might think we have to give each other (or ourselves) short-term pleasure or avoid causing each other (or ourselves) short-term pain. Thus, persons cannot be educated or mature without occasional discomfort or the pain that comes with admitting truths we might prefer to deny, yet we gain from such sometimes unpleasant experiences in our ability to cope with difficulty, in moral goodness, and in wisdom. However, according to this view, not only is no

prima facie duty is without exception, but also no priority rule is without exception. You just have to see or recognize the exception when it occurs. The prima facie duty of fidelity may be misapplied if one thinks one has a strongly binding moral obligation to keep a promise one has made under coercion or to force somebody to do something against his or her will. Ross has been expressing dissatisfaction with utilitarianism and its commitment to viewing production of amounts of good as the basis for what makes right acts right (which has been rendered in recent treatments as making the good prior to the right). In opposing this position Ross refers to a "plain man" making a promise because he thinks he ought to do so, a situation that in this case is one that Ross takes to involve no thought of consequences. However, whilst this seems like a simple and direct opposition to the utilitarian position Ross in fact concedes a point to the utilitarian enquiry because he admits that circumstances can so conspire that fulfilling a promise is something that can have very adverse consequences such that we judge it right not to do this. Hence, while fulfilment of the promise might well be performed for reasons that have no reference to consequences the action of non-fulfilment of the promise is one that arises in an account in which consequences are taken account of.

References: http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/ethics/rossethc.htm http://philosophy.csusb.edu/~tmoody/Past%20classes/W06%20191%20prima%20facie%20duti es%20theory.htm http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/ethics/rossethc.htm#pfd http://www.ehow.com/info_8112361_seven-prima-facie-duties.html

You might also like