Q0530
“Moral evil is a kind of natural defect.” — Philippa Foot (Natural Goodness (2001), Ch. 2)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Natural Goodness (2001), Ch. 2. Theme: virtue.
English
Moral evil is a kind of natural defect.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Natural Goodness (2001), Ch. 2 and files it under Analytic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Philippa Foot
Philippa Foot (1920–2010) was a leading Oxford moral philosopher who helped restore virtue ethics within analytic philosophy. Across essays collected in Virtues and Vices and the late book Natural Goodness, she linked moral evaluation to the needs and life-form of human beings rather than to free-floating emotivist attitudes.
How to read this passage
Virtue ethics asks not only which acts are right, but what kind of person one becomes. Courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom are classic Western lists; Confucian ren and yi offer related but distinct vocabularies. This passage enters that discussion through virtue, nature, good.
Concepts in this quote
- Virtue
- Virtue names excellences of character—habits of perception and action oriented toward the good.
- Nature
- Philosophy quotes about nature ask what the cosmos is, how humans belong in it, and whether “natural” can guide ethics or politics.
- Good
- Good appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat good as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Philippa Foot. (n.d.). Moral evil is a kind of natural defect. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0530
MLA: Philippa Foot. “Moral evil is a kind of natural defect..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0530.
Chicago: Philippa Foot. “Moral evil is a kind of natural defect..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0530.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Moral evil is a kind of natural defect.”?
The passage is attributed to Philippa Foot, Natural Goodness (2001), Ch. 2. The archive attributes this English wording to Natural Goodness (2001), Ch. 2 and files it under Analytic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Philippa Foot mean by virtue?
Virtue ethics asks not only which acts are right, but what kind of person one becomes. Courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom are classic Western lists; Confucian ren and yi offer related but distinct vocabularies. This passage enters that discussion through virtue, nature, good.