Bernard Gert and W.D. Ross - Ethics

To behave in an ethical manner is to act in the way that an impartial rational person can advocate be publicly allowed by society when the action is covered by a moral rule. Moral rules are a set of principles or rules of conduct that people use to decide what is right or wrong. Bernard Gert and W.D. Ross created list of basic moral rules as a summary of common morality. This paper will compare and contrast Gert and Ross’s basic moral rules.

W.D. Ross believed that all human beings have natural instincts that allow then to decipher between right and wrong. A range of relations among individuals are morally important, including promiser-promisee, creditor-debtor, wife-husband, child-parent, friend-friend, etc. ( Girvetz, p.110). Each of these relations is the foundation of what Ross calls a prima facie duty. Ross’s primary duties: 1. Duties resting on previous acts, 2. Duties of gratitude, 3. Duties of justice, 4. Duties of benefice, 5. Duties of self-improvement, 6. Duties not to injure others (Harris, pg. 40) Ross suggested that these duties are compulsory, however they can be superseded in certain circumstances. “They are thought of as if they are in and themselves as if it were simply a question of bringing action under them in order to determine what is right or good” (Girvetz, pp.110). Although Ross failed to elaborate, there is a clear distinction in prima facie duties and actual duties. Prima facie duties obligate people to take action provided no greater obligation gets in the way. Basically, one must evaluate the situation and apply the prima facie duty of significance. Ross agreed with Aristotle that "no general rule will help us very much to know what we ought to do; we must wait till we are in the particular circumstances, and take account of them all; 'the decision lies with perception.'" (Gervitz, p.179)

Common morality, the moral system that all civilized people applies while making their moral decisions, allows unprejudiced people at times to disagree on how people morally should behave. “It not only explains the overwhelming agreement concerning most moral decisions and judgments, but also explains why there is so many irresolvable moral disagreements” (Gert, B. (1999). P. 57). According to Gert this system is based on five basic harms -- death, pain, disability, loss of freedom, loss of pleasure. From these five harms we get ten moral rules that capture the core of common morality: 1. Do not kill 2. Do not cause pain, 3. Do not disable, 4. Do not deprive of freedom, 5. Do not deprive of pleasure, 6. Do not deceive, 7. Keep your promises, 8. Do not cheat, 9. Obey the law, and 10. Do your duty. The first five rules prohibit inflicting the five basic harms directly, whereas the second five prohibit actions that cause those same harms indirectly. “What is or is not morally acceptable is largely dependent on moral rules and justifiable violations of them, whilst the criteria for moral acceptability are give in the terms of avoidance of harm” (Keulart, pg. 141). Gert believed that violations of any of these rules without ample validation would equal to being immoral. Gert also contended that the standard of common morality is understandable to everyone to whom it applies, and it is, not irrational for any of those persons to accept being guided and judged by that standard(Gert, B. 1999, p.57) Gert suggests that all moral rules are, or can be, stated as prohibitions (Gert, p. 62).

Gert and Ross constructed