Do Moral Beliefs Motivate Action?

Do moral beliefs motivate action? To answer this question, extant arguments have considered hypothetical cases of association (dissociation) between agents’ moral beliefs and actions. In this paper, I argue that this approach can be improved by studying people’s actual moral beliefs and actions usin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethical theory and moral practice
Main Author: Díaz, Rodrigo (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2023
In: Ethical theory and moral practice
Further subjects:B Humean theory of motivation
B Experimental philosophy
B Moral beliefs
B Moral emotions
B Sentimentalism
B Moral Motivation
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Summary:Do moral beliefs motivate action? To answer this question, extant arguments have considered hypothetical cases of association (dissociation) between agents’ moral beliefs and actions. In this paper, I argue that this approach can be improved by studying people’s actual moral beliefs and actions using empirical research methods. I present three new studies showing that, when the stakes are high, associations between participants’ moral beliefs and actions are actually explained by co-occurring but independent moral emotions. These findings suggest that moral beliefs themselves have little or no motivational force, supporting the Humean picture of moral motivation.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contains:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-023-10389-x