 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
So far, I have been content to say that the "right" act is that most likely to promote the general good ; but this, though I believe it to be true, may be not a definition, but a highly debatable proposition. If you ask "what ought I to do?" and I reply "you ought to do what will probably promote the general good", I am not telling you the meaning of your question, which you feel that you already know. ...
... this statement, true or false, is a proposition of ethics, not a verbal proposition such as we have a right to expect from the dictionary.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 5
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