Moral motivation
Moral motivation consists of the reasons and psychological forces that move people to act, or refrain from acting, in morally relevant ways.
Moral judgment: An evaluation of an action, person, or state of affairs as morally right, wrong, good, or bad. Judgments can guide action, but whether they motivate it is a central question.
Motivational internalism: The view that sincerely judging an action morally required necessarily provides some motivation to perform it. It makes a necessary connection between moral judgment and motivation.
Practical reason: Reasoning about what to do, including how to weigh ends, means, and obligations. Moral motivation is one way practical reasoning bears on action.
Altruism: Behavior intended to benefit another, sometimes at a cost to the agent. It is a prominent case of acting for another person's welfare.
Moral emotions: Emotions such as guilt, compassion, and indignation that concern moral norms, harms, or character. They can supply immediate impulses to repair harm, help others, or condemn wrongdoing.
Motivational externalism: The view that moral judgment does not necessarily motivate action without an additional desire or commitment. It treats moral judgment and the force to act as separable.
Moral reasons: Considerations that count in favor of or against an action because of its moral features. They are the considerations agents may take as grounds for moral action.
Prosocial behavior: Voluntary behavior intended to benefit other people or groups. It shows how moral concern can take practical forms such as helping and sharing.
Moral identity: The degree to which being a moral person is central to someone's self-conception. A morally important self-image can make ethical conduct feel personally necessary.
Humean theory of motivation: The view that motivation requires a desire-like state and that beliefs alone cannot motivate action. It explains moral motivation through desires that moral beliefs can inform.