Two Ways of Limiting Moral Demands.

The article examines how to respond to moral theories that impose excessively demanding obligations on individuals, distinguishing between intramoral strategies, which limit the content of morality itself, and extramoral strategies, which limit the practical significance or normative authority of moral demands. It addresses the question of whether intramoral approaches presuppose the failure of extramoral approaches and argues that they do not; moral theories can be criticized for being too demanding in content even if morality’s practical significance is limited. The discussion includes the thesis of moral rationalism—that moral obligations entail decisive reasons to act—and the connection between moral obligations and blameworthiness, supporting intramoral limits independently of extramoral considerations. Ultimately, the article concludes that intramoral and extramoral strategies are compatible and that moral theories may require adjustment on content grounds regardless of morality’s normative status.