Modern Moral Philosophy

Elizabeth Anscombe’s 1958 essay, Modern Moral Philosophy, is a cutting intervention in modern philosophy that showcases the full power of effective evaluative and analytical critical thinking skills.

Though only 16 pages long, Anscombe's paper aimed to reform the entire field of modern moral philosophy—a task that could only be accomplished by carefully examining the existing arguments of the giants of the field. To achieve this, she deployed the central skills of evaluation and analysis.

In critical thinking, analysis helps understand the sequence and features of arguments: it asks what reasons these arguments produce, what implicit reasons and assumptions they rely on, and what conclusions they arrive at. Evaluation involves judging whether or not the arguments are strong enough to sustain their conclusions: it questions how acceptable, adequate, and relevant the reasons given are, and whether or not the conclusions drawn from them are truly valid.

In Modern Moral Philosophy, Anscombe dispassionately applies these skills to figures that have dominated moral philosophy since the 18th century. She reveals the underlying assumptions of their work, their weaknesses and strengths, and demonstrates that in many ways, the supposed differences between their arguments are actually negligible. A brilliantly incisive piece, Modern Moral Philosophy radically affected its field, remaining required—and controversial—reading today.