Abstract

"Demandingness of morality" is a new issue in moral philosophy, which, in spite of its antecedents, has seriously and independently been put forward only in the latest decades of the 20th century. This concept is often evaluated in terms of three elements: pervasiveness, overridingness, and stringency. There are also three general approaches toward it: extremist morality, moderate morality, and minimalist morality. This paper, based on these elements, analyzes "demandingness of morality" based on these three elements, and describes the main points of the three approaches. Since moderate morality is very close to our ordinary or everyday morality, this paper, in its explanation, analysis and critique, tries to show that what one recognizes as morality in this era might be much more lax than the real demands of morality. Our ordinary moderate morality faces up to some serious challenges, and if it does not answer them, the claim to innocence and moral behavior in this era will crumble.