What we morally ought to do to help the world's badly-off

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Philosophy (MA) (60 EC)

Verheggen, Esli (2017)

What we morally ought to do to help the world's badly-off

Master thesis | Philosophy (MA) (60 EC)

This thesis seeks to explore the relation between psychological coping mechanisms and moral responsibility. It argues that there are three essential conditions guiding this relation: in order to be morally responsible individuals must (1) be aware of a moral demand, (2) be aware of the morally relevant state of affairs, and (3) must to some degree have the physical and motivational ability to act upon this awareness. In specific, the view that motivational ability is an important factor in thinking about moral responsibility is defended in this thesis. Only by taking motivational ability into account, can we think about morality in a way that is both sufficiently realistic, while also satisfactorily idealistic.