"Ought" implies "practical possibility"

Ian Carter

pp. 79-95

in: Ian Carter, Mario Ricciardi (eds), Freedom, power and political morality, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001

Abstract

It is common among moral, political and legal philosophers to claim or assume that "ought" implies "can". By this, they mean that if an agent cannot perform a given action, then it cannot be the case that such an action is required of the agent. In short, one cannot have the duty to do the impossible.