Chapter 11 Summary

Foot argues that a moral person is a person who recognizes the right reasons for action. To have certain virtues is to recognize certain considerations as compelling reasons for acting. Moral goodness is closely related to practical rationality; goodness involves reason recognition and reason following. A noncognitivist may argue that having a reason to act, moral or otherwise, depends ultimately on feelings or desires. For example, giving up smoking might depend ultimately on a desire for a healthy old age. Foot denies this. The ultimate reason for our actions need not be a desire or feeling. She claims that the person giving up smoking simply recognizes a reason that all of us have, namely, a reason to be concerned for our future. A rational person recognizes this as a reason to act and will act on it. Such facts, facts about human life, provide the grounding for moral argument, according to Foot. Moral action is rational action.