Abstract

Wren’s basic thesis is that moral obligation is logically involved in the very concept of human agency. Basic to the notion of agency or action is intention, and the book’s basic argument rests upon this latter notion. In addition to explicit intentions, human agency is also characterized by implicit or tacit intentions. In simplest terms, our sense of moral obligation is a tacit intention which characterizes all agency. At one level, tacit intention is a sheerly formal notion: "... that tacit willingness to choose which is present in every explicit choice...". Because action as such is essentially social, however, we tacitly intend to participate as a member of a group of agents which entails a commitment to the promotion of harmony. This intention to harmony gives rise to the basic moral imperative: "Act in the way that maintains and promotes the most effective harmony among agents".