The Nonworseness Claim and the Moral Permissibility of Better-Than-Permissible Acts
Philosophia 39 (2):237-250 (2011)
| Abstract | Grounded in what Alan Wertheimer terms the nonworseness claim, it is thought by some philosophers that what will be referred to herein as better-than-permissible acts —acts that, if undertaken, would make another or others better off than they would be were an alternative but morally permissible act to be undertaken—are necessarily morally permissible. What, other than a bout of irrationality, it may be thought, would lead one to hold that an act (such as outsourcing production to a sweatshop in a developing country) that produces more benefits for others than an act that is itself morally permissible (such as not doing business in the developing country at all) with respect to those same others, is not morally permissible? In this article, I argue that each of the two groups of philosophers that are most likely to accept the nonworseness claim—consequentialists and non-consequentialists—have reason to reject it, and thereby also have reason to reject the belief that better-than-permissible acts are necessarily morally permissible | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAdam Bailey (2011). The Nonworseness Claim and the Moral Permissibility of Better-Than-Permissible Acts. Philosophia 39 (2):237-250.
Larry Alexander (2008). Scalar Properties, Binary Judgments. Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (2):85–104.
Douglas W. Portmore (2008). Are Moral Reasons Morally Overriding? Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 11 (4):369 - 388.
Gerald K. Harrison & Julia Tanner (2011). Better Not to Have Children. Think, 10(27), 113-121.
Jeff McMahan (2007). Infanticide. Utilitas 19 (2):131-159.
Saba Bazargan (2012). The Permissibility of Aiding and Abetting Unjust Wars. Journal of Moral Philosophy 8 (4):513-529.
Joshua Stuchlik (2012). A Critique of Scanlon on Double Effect. Journal of Moral Philosophy 9 (2):178-199.
Jovana Davidovic (2008). Are Humanitarian Military Interventions Obligatory? Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (2):134–144.
Fritz Allhoff (2003). Business Bluffing Reconsidered. Journal of Business Ethics 45 (4):283 - 289.
Saul Smilansky (2005). On Not Being Sorry About The Morally Bad. Philosophy 80 (02).
Gregory S. Kavka (1983). When Two 'Wrongs' Make a Right: An Essay on Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 2 (1):61 - 66.
Ingmar Persson (2004). Two Act-Omission Paradoxes. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104 (2):147–162.
Guy Kahane (2009). Non-Identity, Self-Defeat, and Attitudes to Future Children. Philosophical Studies 145 (2):193 - 214.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-10-26Total downloads20 ( #61,504 of 549,065 )Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
