The Act Itself

Book excerpt: The Act Itself offers a deeper understanding of what is going on in our own moral thoughts about human behaviour. Many of the descriptions of behaviour on which our moral thoughts are based are confused; others may be free of confusion, but still we are not clear in our minds about what thoughts they are. That is would hurt her, it would be disloyal, it wouldn't be done with that intention, it would be dangerous, it would involve allowing harm but not producing it—thoughts like these support our moral judgements and thus guide our lives. In so far as we do not deeply understand them, this is a kind of servitude. As Locke said, 'He is the most enslaved who is so in his understanding.' Jonathan Bennett presents conceptual analysis as a means to getting more control of our thoughts and thus of our lives.