Q0532
“We are not free to say that just anything is the subject…” — Philippa Foot (Moral Beliefs (1958), in Virtues and…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Moral Beliefs (1958), in Virtues and Vices. Theme: morality.
English
We are not free to say that just anything is the subject of a moral belief.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Moral Beliefs (1958), in Virtues and Vices 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
Moral philosophy asks whether morality is objective, how reasons bind us, and how character, rules, and consequences relate. Traditions differ on whether duty, virtue, or outcomes come first. This passage enters that discussion through morality, truth, knowledge.
Concepts in this quote
- Morality
- Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.
- Truth
- Truth is among philosophy’s oldest problems: what it is for a claim to be true, and how truth relates to belief, language, and power.
- Knowledge
- Knowledge is the philosophical study of what we can justifiably claim to know—and where certainty ends.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Philippa Foot. (n.d.). We are not free to say that just anything is the subject of a moral belief. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0532
MLA: Philippa Foot. “We are not free to say that just….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0532.
Chicago: Philippa Foot. “We are not free to say that just….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0532.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “We are not free to say that just…”?
The passage is attributed to Philippa Foot, Moral Beliefs (1958), in Virtues and Vices. The archive attributes this English wording to Moral Beliefs (1958), in Virtues and Vices 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 morality?
Moral philosophy asks whether morality is objective, how reasons bind us, and how character, rules, and consequences relate. Traditions differ on whether duty, virtue, or outcomes come first. This passage enters that discussion through morality, truth, knowledge.