Explorations in Ethics

Foreword......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Contents......Page 10
Notes on Contributors......Page 12
Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 17
1 The Aim of Ethics......Page 18
2 The Current State of Ethics......Page 20
3 Safe and Unsafe Claims......Page 23
4 Pieces of Theories......Page 25
5 Philosophy of Life......Page 29
6 Speculative Ethics......Page 31
7 Methodology......Page 32
8 The Chapters......Page 33
References......Page 38
Chapter 2: The Euthyphro Problem Revisited......Page 40
1 Formulating the Euthyphro Problem......Page 41
2 The Euthyphro Problem......Page 42
3 The Pious and the Good......Page 46
4 The Divine Command Formulation......Page 48
5 The Divine Love Formulation......Page 50
6 The General Formulation......Page 53
7 The Value Formulation......Page 55
8 The Kinds of Value Formulation......Page 59
References......Page 60
1 Benacerraf’s Challenge......Page 62
2 The Pluralist Solution......Page 63
3 Metaphysical Pluralism......Page 65
4 Normative Pluralism......Page 66
5 Moore’s Open Question Revisited......Page 67
6 Objections and Replies......Page 69
7 Realism and Objectivity Revisited......Page 71
References......Page 72
Chapter 4: The Modal Conception of Ideal Rational Agents: Objectively Ideal Not Merely Subjectively Ideal, Advisors Not Exemplars, Agentially Concerned Not Agentially Indifferent, Social Not Solitary, Self-and-Other-Regarding Not Wholly Self-Regarding......Page 74
1 What Is an Ideally Rational Agent?......Page 75
2 The Ideal Agent Is Objectively Ideal, Not Merely Subjectively Ideal......Page 78
3 The Ideal Agent Is an Ideal Advisor, Not an Ideal Exemplar......Page 80
4 The Ideal Agent Is Agentially Concerned, Not Agentially Indifferent......Page 84
5 The Ideal Agent Is Social, Not Solitary......Page 88
6 The Ideal Agent Is Self-and-Other-Regarding, Not Wholly Self-Regarding......Page 90
7 Conclusion......Page 91
References......Page 93
Chapter 5: To Boldly Go Where No Man, or Woman, Has Gone Before!......Page 95
1.1 The Repugnant Conclusion......Page 97
The Torture to Mosquito Bites Spectrum......Page 100
A Case from Population Ethics......Page 103
An Infinite Case......Page 104
The Importance of These Results......Page 107
1.3 The Internal Aspects View Versus the Essentially Comparative View......Page 109
1.4 Reconsidering the Three Apparent Counterexamples to Transitivity......Page 115
2.1 Space and Time......Page 117
2.2 Spaces, Times, People, and Dominance Principles......Page 120
2.3 A Case Prioritizing Time over People......Page 124
3 Concluding Remark......Page 127
References......Page 128
Chapter 6: Well-Being as Harmony......Page 130
1 What Kind of Theory Is Harmonism?......Page 132
3 The Principles of Harmonism......Page 135
3.1 Correspondence......Page 136
3.2 Positive Orientation......Page 138
3.3 Fitting Response......Page 145
4 Revisiting the List......Page 148
5 Conclusion......Page 149
References......Page 151
Chapter 7: On Moral Architecture......Page 154
1 The Basic Terrain (Is Not so Basic)......Page 155
1.1 One Debate, Two Frames......Page 157
2.1 The Reasons-First Argument for Particularism......Page 159
2.2 The Reasons-First Argument for Generalism......Page 165
2.3 Assessment......Page 168
3 Practice First......Page 169
3.1 The Practice-First Argument for Particularism......Page 170
3.2 The Practice-First Argument for Generalism......Page 172
3.3 Assessment......Page 176
4 Results......Page 177
References......Page 179
Chapter 8: The Central Difficulty of the Moral Life......Page 181
2 Moral Weakness......Page 183
3 Moral Theory......Page 184
4 Two Frameworks for Ethics......Page 185
5 The Prudence Dependency Thesis......Page 188
6 Moral Situations......Page 191
7 An Underlying Principle of Ethical Theory......Page 192
8 Why Are We Not Moral?......Page 193
9 The Judge and the Agent......Page 194
10 Agent Problems......Page 196
11 Prudence and Morality......Page 197
12 Morality in Normative Space......Page 199
13 The Rest of the Story......Page 201
14 The Moral, the Prudent, and the Morally Prudent......Page 202
15 Moral Theoretical Assessments......Page 203
16 Morally Dangerous Situations......Page 204
17 Conclusion......Page 205
References......Page 206
Chapter 9: Desert-Sensitivity and Moral Evaluation......Page 208
1 Songs of Love and Hate......Page 210
2 On What Can Be Known......Page 216
3 Measuring and Evaluating......Page 221
4 Conclusion......Page 227
References......Page 229
1 Malcolm X’s Complaint......Page 230
2 Two Conceptions of Interpersonal Recognition......Page 233
3 Phenomenological Accuracy of the Engagement Model......Page 240
4 Epistemic Parsimony of the Engagement Model......Page 243
5 Two Challenges to the Engagement Model......Page 246
6 Conclusion: Interpersonal Recognition and the Prospects for Humanism......Page 249
References......Page 251
Chapter 11: Censure, Sanction, and the Moral Psychology of Resentment and Punitiveness......Page 254
1 The Liberal State, Morality, and Pluralism......Page 257
2 Roles for Retributivism and Resentment......Page 262
3 Desert, Luck, and Justice......Page 268
4 The Relevance of Smith’s View of Resentment......Page 274
References......Page 277
Chapter 12: A Natural Law Approach to Biomedical Ethics......Page 279
1 A Controversial Case......Page 280
2 Natural Law, Beneficence, and Non-maleficence......Page 282
3 Natural Law and the Value of Autonomy......Page 285
4 Natural Law and Justice......Page 288
5 The Pacemaker Removal Case Revisited......Page 292
6 Conclusion......Page 294
References......Page 295
Chapter 13: The Corruptions of Music......Page 297
1 The Facts of Music......Page 298
2 The Puzzles of Music and Temperament......Page 301
3 Moral Effects of Equal Temperament......Page 307
4 Temperament, the Piano, and Tyranny......Page 311
References......Page 314
Index......Page 315