{"id":{"repo_id":"maynooth","oai_identifier":"oai:mural.maynoothuniversity.ie:13649"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/maynooth/oai:mural.maynoothuniversity.ie:13649","repository":{"repo_id":"maynooth","name":"National University of Ireland - Maynooth","base_url":"http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"The ‘Ought’ of Flourishing in Elizabeth Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and Philippa Foot’s Natural Goodness","abstract":"Elizabeth Anscombe embarked on arguably one of her first forays into moral philosophy in a landmark article, published in 1958 at age thirty-nine, entitled ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’. The work can be read as the writing of a devout Catholic seeking (sceptically), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be fit to flourish—to, essentially, live well—as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevailing, yet (what she deemed) faulty, ethical theories of her day towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I argue, can be extrapolated from her notion of ‘brute facts’) is the starting point of what has come to be known as the Aretaic Turn. Philippa Foot, a friend and colleague of Anscombe, embarked on arguably one of her finest forays into moral philosophy in a milestone book, published in 2001 at age eighty (a month after Anscombe’s death), entitled Natural Goodness. The work can be seen as the writing of a card-carrying atheist seeking (determinedly), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be capable of flourishing as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevalent, yet (what she saw as) flawed, ethical theories of her time towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I contend, can also be extrapolated from Anscombe’s notion of ‘brute facts’) is a highpoint of the Aretaic Turn. This thesis argues that, in terms of developing her ethical naturalsim, Foot’s Natural Goodness, although a work justifying much merit in its own right, owes a great deal to Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and that, in terms of her developed ethical naturalism, an examination of the concepts of belonging and vulnerability, which I provide, would be beneficial.","abstract_html":"Elizabeth Anscombe embarked on arguably one of her first forays into moral philosophy in a landmark article, published in 1958 at age thirty-nine, entitled ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’. The work can be read as the writing of a devout Catholic seeking (sceptically), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be fit to flourish—to, essentially, live well—as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevailing, yet (what she deemed) faulty, ethical theories of her day towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I argue, can be extrapolated from her notion of ‘brute facts’) is the starting point of what has come to be known as the Aretaic Turn. Philippa Foot, a friend and colleague of Anscombe, embarked on arguably one of her finest forays into moral philosophy in a milestone book, published in 2001 at age eighty (a month after Anscombe’s death), entitled Natural Goodness. The work can be seen as the writing of a card-carrying atheist seeking (determinedly), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be capable of flourishing as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevalent, yet (what she saw as) flawed, ethical theories of her time towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I contend, can also be extrapolated from Anscombe’s notion of ‘brute facts’) is a highpoint of the Aretaic Turn. This thesis argues that, in terms of developing her ethical naturalsim, Foot’s Natural Goodness, although a work justifying much merit in its own right, owes a great deal to Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and that, in terms of her developed ethical naturalism, an examination of the concepts of belonging and vulnerability, which I provide, would be beneficial.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Regan, Michael James"],"institution":"National University of Ireland Maynooth","degree_name":"phd","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016","date_published":"2016","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:03:05Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Regan, Michael James"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2016"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["National University of Ireland Maynooth"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/13649/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["phd"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/13649/1/MichaelJDRegan.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Elizabeth Anscombe embarked on arguably one of her first forays into moral philosophy in a landmark article, published in 1958 at age thirty-nine, entitled ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’. The work can be read as the writing of a devout Catholic seeking (sceptically), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be fit to flourish—to, essentially, live well—as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevailing, yet (what she deemed) faulty, ethical theories of her day towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I argue, can be extrapolated from her notion of ‘brute facts’) is the starting point of what has come to be known as the Aretaic Turn. Philippa Foot, a friend and colleague of Anscombe, embarked on arguably one of her finest forays into moral philosophy in a milestone book, published in 2001 at age eighty (a month after Anscombe’s death), entitled Natural Goodness. The work can be seen as the writing of a card-carrying atheist seeking (determinedly), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be capable of flourishing as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevalent, yet (what she saw as) flawed, ethical theories of her time towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I contend, can also be extrapolated from Anscombe’s notion of ‘brute facts’) is a highpoint of the Aretaic Turn. This thesis argues that, in terms of developing her ethical naturalsim, Foot’s Natural Goodness, although a work justifying much merit in its own right, owes a great deal to Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and that, in terms of her developed ethical naturalism, an examination of the concepts of belonging and vulnerability, which I provide, would be beneficial."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The ‘Ought’ of Flourishing in Elizabeth Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and Philippa Foot’s Natural Goodness"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Regan, Michael James"],"dc:date":["2016"],"dc:date.issued":["2016"],"dc:description.abstract":["Elizabeth Anscombe embarked on arguably one of her first forays into moral philosophy in a landmark article, published in 1958 at age thirty-nine, entitled ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’. The work can be read as the writing of a devout Catholic seeking (sceptically), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be fit to flourish—to, essentially, live well—as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevailing, yet (what she deemed) faulty, ethical theories of her day towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I argue, can be extrapolated from her notion of ‘brute facts’) is the starting point of what has come to be known as the Aretaic Turn. Philippa Foot, a friend and colleague of Anscombe, embarked on arguably one of her finest forays into moral philosophy in a milestone book, published in 2001 at age eighty (a month after Anscombe’s death), entitled Natural Goodness. The work can be seen as the writing of a card-carrying atheist seeking (determinedly), for those with no religion, a coherent and practicable idea of how one ought to be so as to be capable of flourishing as a human being. Her shift in focus away from the prevalent, yet (what she saw as) flawed, ethical theories of her time towards a virtue-based ethical naturalism (which, I contend, can also be extrapolated from Anscombe’s notion of ‘brute facts’) is a highpoint of the Aretaic Turn. This thesis argues that, in terms of developing her ethical naturalsim, Foot’s Natural Goodness, although a work justifying much merit in its own right, owes a great deal to Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and that, in terms of her developed ethical naturalism, an examination of the concepts of belonging and vulnerability, which I provide, would be beneficial."],"dc:format":["text"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/13649/1/MichaelJDRegan.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher.institution":["National University of Ireland Maynooth"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/13649/"],"dc:title":["The ‘Ought’ of Flourishing in Elizabeth Anscombe’s ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’ and Philippa Foot’s Natural Goodness"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["phd"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:03:05Z"}