Video And Podcast Resources On W.D. Ross' The Right And The Good Chapter 2

ten lectures on this important work in ethics

One of the authors I teach regularly in both general and applied ethics classes is W.D. Ross, focusing on chapter 2 of his short but seminal work The Right And The Good. When we are looking at one main family of moral theories, deontological or duty-based ethics, it is common to include Ross’ “intuitionist” ethics, which identifies, elaborates, and applies a set of what he calls “prima facie duties”. In more recent times, this approach has been further developed by Robert Audi, who prefers the term “pluralistic ethics”.

This approach proves relatively easy for students to grasp and to start using for ethical evaluation and decision making, “out of the box”, so to speak. It’s certainly easier to wrap one’s head around than one of its main deontological rivals, Kantian ethics. It has a lot more intellectual and moral meat to it than over-simplified versions of deontology that reduce ethics to simply following rules, policies, laws, or procedures. And by contrast to another common deontological approach, divine command theory, it doesn’t require any inherently controversial appeal to a transcendent religious rule-giver or text.

Many years back, I produced a series of core concept videos working through chapter 2 of Ross’ book. Some of these were filmed in my ethics classes at Marist College, and others in front of my chalkboard in our old apartment. I since edited them into a set of corresponding Sadler’s Lectures podcast episodes. And for over a decade I’ve provided them as resources for my students in ethics classes at a number of places I’ve taught. I’ve also incorporated them into applied ethics classes for business, medical and nursing, and art and design students.

I’ll likely return to Ross’ work and shoot some additional videos down the line, and then turn them into podcast episodes. When I do that, I’ll add them here to this page once they’ve been released to the public. For now, I have these ten lectures in both video and podcast formats to offer you. Here they are:

• Criticisms Of Other Moral Theories | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Prima Facie Duties | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Fidelity | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Gratitude | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Reparation | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Justice | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Self-Improvement | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Beneficence | watch video | listen to podcast

• The Duty Of Non-Maleficence | watch video | listen to podcast

• Conflicts And Connections Between Duties | watch video | listen to podcast

I hope that you find these resources interesting and useful!