Dec 16, 2025 · Rather than forcing moral life into a single rule, he proposed a pluralistic framework built around what he called prima …

It establishes criteria a successful account of obligation should satisfy, and develops a theory that satisfies them. The theory includes …

It is generally used in reference to an obligation. "I have a prima facie obligation to keep my promise and meet my friend" means that …

Ross’s theory, a variant of intuitionism, recognized five prima facie duties: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, nonmaleficence (avoiding …

The main question to be addressed in this chapter is simply this: how is the concept of prima facie obligation to be understood? This …

Since prima facie obligation is the weakest kind of obligation, part of what we mean when we ascribe authority to some government …

Aug 12, 2010 · The act with the greatest balance of prima facie rightness over prima facie wrongness is what you ought all things …

Mar 26, 2025 · W.D. Ross believed that there are multiple fundamental moral principles. He called them "prima facie" duties. This …

In The Right and the Good, Ross lists seven prima facie duties, without claiming his list to be exhaustive: fidelity; reparation; …

Instead of proposing a single overarching moral rule, Ross introduced the concept of prima facie duties, or moral obligations that are …