Moral philosophy is a "Theory of Practice", that is a reflection, a speculation on how we should act to be right, oriented toward the good, and, therefore, of what is good; on what is the law (the rule) that we have to follow to make it happen. The definition "Theory of Practice" is important, because both in the nineteenth century and during the twentieth century, have established philosophies aimed at overcoming the theoretical and understanding character of philosophical knowledge, to bring philosophy to life. So it was thought that philosophers were to change the world, rather than contemplate, as written by Marx, in the famous eleventh thesis on Feuerbach (1845). Philosophy was to become revolutionary thought. But in the revolutionary thought there can be no theory independent from practice, then philosophy itself was to become practice and revolution. Not only in Marxism, but also in some of the current philosophy of life and existentialism of the last century, the theoretical and knowledge aspects of philosophy have been overshadowed.
The philosopher Antonio Rosmini, by contrast, emphasizes the reflexive and speculative philosophy, so by saving the autonomy and value.
Object of moral philosophy is not "beings as they are," but "as they ought to be." It is part of ethics, discipline that deals with the need-to be, and is a special ethics, that is interested in those things on which we have the power to intervene, those organizations that we are able to make those which must be . Rosmini writes: "if compared to most of the things we can not do anything more than simply how to operate and those should be, compared to some we have a more power, to make them so, we know what they should be. And these few things that are within the sphere of our power, are our own actions, moderate, from which comes our perfection. "
Moral science is distinguished, therefore, from all disciplines that deal with the perfection of the ought-to be.
Now, we would add a few comments and explanations of some concepts exposed so far. We begin by stressing that the "supreme importance and dignity" - that is mentioned - are "the particular task of teaching how to make good the human actions and the men themselves": "for man, to be made good , he and not his things of itself, is all: because if he is bad, which is worth to him the goodness of all other things "?
The moral research by Rosmini is oriented from the start towards the recognition of a sphere of value of moral norms which guarantee and justify the autonomy compared to all other dimensions of human experience. The moral law, according to which man improves, becomes good and is perfected, is independent of man himself, does not receive its legitimacy and its value from perfection nor happiness, which can be reached by obeying it.
Therefore, the "moral philosophy" in the strict sense is to be distinguished from the scope more comprehensive of ethics that would have applied to all the fields of human acting scientifically considered in their specificity and therefore would be articulated in a range of applied ethics. For which it must be recognized that their exercise requires specific skills related to positive knowledge, to the human and natural sciences, because of a composite regulating statute, not only due to purely 'philosophical question about the general principles or sense of values actions. Which clearly implies that you can not keep strictly separate moral philosophy and applied ethics, since ultimately also applied ethics refer to questions about the principles and the meaning of human acting, but be aware that they pose these questions from certain areas of life sciences, natural or historical investigated by correspondents. [From 'Preliminary observations on moral Italian philosophy’ by Giuseppe Cantillo]
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