Category: Normative Ethics

At the moment, I’m interested in imperfect duties and, in particular, the duty of beneficence, and I need some help tracking down the relevant literature […] Read More

Suppose that S has the following imperfect duty: an imperfect duty to perform at least one of x, y, and z (where these are three […] Read More

As I noted in an earlier post, there are at least two competing rationales for constraints: the victim-focused rationale (VFR) and the agent-focused rationale (AFR). […] Read More

Please consider the following three cases and then take the following poll: Case A (‘A’ for Abe): Abe poisons his son, Larry. The poison causes […] Read More

Let A1-A6 stand for six distinct agents. Let V1-V6 stand for six distinct potential victims. Let T1-T6 stand for six distinct and successive times. And […] Read More

Smith has exactly two doses of anesthetic, and Jones has zero doses of anesthetic. Tom is having an operation on Saturday, and unless Smith gives […] Read More

Smith has exactly two doses of anesthetic. Tom is having an operation on Saturday, and unless Smith gives Tom a double-dose of anesthetic right before […] Read More

The poll question was: If someone holds both (a) that an act is morally permissible if and only if it maximizes aggregate pleasure and (b) […] Read More

The poll question was: Assuming that you’re a consequentialist (if you’re not one, then please don’t take this poll), do you believe that the best […] Read More