26 found
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  1. (2 other versions)Subjective rightness.Holly M. Smith - 2010 - Social Philosophy and Policy 27 (2):64-110.
    Twentieth century philosophers introduced the distinction between “objective rightness” and “subjective rightness” to achieve two primary goals. The first goal is to reduce the paradoxical tension between our judgments of (i) what is best for an agent to do in light of the actual circumstances in which she acts and (ii) what is wisest for her to do in light of her mistaken or uncertain beliefs about her circumstances. The second goal is to provide moral guidance to an agent who (...)
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  2.  61
    Making Morality Work.Holly M. Smith - 2018 - Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press.
    What should we do if we cannot figure what morality requires of us? Holly M. Smith argues that the best moral codes solve this problem by offering two tiers, one of which tells us what makes acts right and wrong, and the other of which provides user-friendly decision guides. She opens a path towards resolving a deep problem of moral life.
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  3. The Subjective Moral Duty to Inform Oneself before Acting.Holly M. Smith - 2014 - Ethics 125 (1):11-38.
    The requirement that moral theories be usable for making decisions runs afoul of the fact that decision makers often lack sufficient information about their options to derive any accurate prescriptions from the standard theories. Many theorists attempt to solve this problem by adopting subjective moral theories—ones that ground obligations on the agent’s beliefs about the features of her options, rather than on the options’ actual features. I argue that subjective deontological theories suffer a fatal flaw, since they cannot appropriately require (...)
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  4. Measuring the Consequences of Rules: Holly M. Smith.Holly M. Smith - 2010 - Utilitas 22 (4):413-433.
    Recently two distinct forms of rule-utilitarianism have been introduced that differ on how to measure the consequences of rules. Brad Hooker advocates fixed-rate rule-utilitarianism, while Michael Ridge advocates variable-rate rule-utilitarianism. I argue that both of these are inferior to a new proposal, optimum-rate rule-utilitarianism. According to optimum-rate rule-utilitarianism, an ideal code is the code whose optimum acceptance level is no lower than that of any alternative code. I then argue that all three forms of rule-utilitarianism fall prey to two fatal (...)
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  5. Varieties of moral worth and moral credit.Holly M. Smith - 1991 - Ethics 101 (2):279-303.
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  6.  39
    Rights, Restitution, and Risk: Essays in Moral Theory.Holly M. Smith - 1989 - Philosophical Review 98 (3):414.
  7. The "Prospective View" of Obligation.Holly M. Smith - 2010 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy (1):1-9.
  8. Making moral decisions.Holly M. Smith - 1988 - Noûs 22 (1):89-108.
  9.  43
    Moral Decision Guides: Counsels of Morality or Counsels of Rationality?Holly M. Smith - 2022 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 22 (1).
    In a two-tiered, or Dual Oughts, moral theory, the objective account of right and wrong is supplemented by decision guides designed to enable an agent, uncertain about the circumstances or consequences of her possible actions, to indirectly apply the objective theory by using an appropriate decision guide. But are the decision guides counsels of morality or counsels of rationality? Peter Graham argues they are counsels of pragmatic rationality. This paper shows Graham’s view is unsuccessful, and argues, based on the approach (...)
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  10. A paradox of promising.Holly M. Smith - 1997 - Philosophical Review 106 (2):153-196.
    For centuries it has been a mainstay of European and American moral thought that keeping promises—and the allied activity of upholding contracts—is one of the most important requirements of morality. On some historically powerful views the obligation to uphold promises or contracts not only regulates private relationships, but also provides the moral foundation for our duty to support and obey legitimate governments. Some theorists believe that the concept of keeping promises has gradually moved to center stage in European moral thought. (...)
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  11.  42
    Moral Realism, Moral Conflict, and Compound Acts.Holly M. Smith - 1986 - Journal of Philosophy 83 (6):341.
    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
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  12. The morality of creating and eliminating duties.Holly M. Smith & David E. Black - 2019 - Philosophical Studies 176 (12):3211-3240.
    We often act in ways that create duties for ourselves: we adopt a child and become obligated to raise and educate her. We also sometimes act in ways that eliminate duties: we get divorced, and no longer have a duty to support our now ex-spouse. When is it morally permissible to create or to eliminate a duty? These questions have almost wholly evaded philosophical attention. In this paper we develop answers to these questions by arguing in favor of the asymmetric (...)
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  13. Two-Tier Moral Codes.Holly M. Smith - 1989 - Social Philosophy and Policy 7 (1):112.
    A moral code consists of principles that assign moral status to individual actions – principles that evaluate acts as right or wrong, prohibited or obligatory, permissible or supererogatory. Many theorists have held that such principles must serve two distinct functions. On the one hand, they serve a theoretical function, insofar as they specify the characteristics in virtue of which acts possess their moral status. On the other hand, they serve a practical function, insofar as they provide an action-guide: a standard (...)
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  14.  96
    The Zimmerman-Graham Debate on Objectivism versus Prospectivism.Holly M. Smith - 2018 - Journal of Moral Philosophy 15 (4):401-414.
    In Living with Uncertainty Michael Zimmerman argues against the Objective view and for the Prospective view of morality. He claims that the conscientious agent would always choose the act that maximizes projected value, and that this is incompatible with Objectivism. Peter Graham defends Objectivism against Zimmerman’s attack. He argues that a conscientious agent must balance fulfilling obligations against avoiding the worst wrong-doings, and that this stance is consistent with Objectivism and with the agent’s choosing an act she believes to be (...)
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  15. The Moral Clout of Reasonable Beliefs.Holly M. Smith - 2010 - In Mark Timmons (ed.), Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, Volume I. Oxford University Press.
    Because we must often make decisions in light of imperfect information about our prospective actions, the standard principles of objective obligation must be supplemented with principles of subjective obligation (which evaluate actions in light of what the agent believes about their circumstances and consequences). The point of principles of subjective obligation is to guide agents in making decisions. But should these principles be stated in terms of what the agent actually believes or what it would be reasonable for her to (...)
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  16.  80
    Does Being Morally Responsible Depend on the Ability to Hold Morally Responsible?Holly M. Smith - 2014 - Philosophical Studies 171 (1):51-62.
    Michael McKenna’s Conversation and Responsibility is a genuine tour de force: a richly detailed, sustained argument for an innovative theory about the nature of moral responsibility, one that offers multiple layers of theoretical architectonic. Its depth repays equally deep examination, and I have learned a great deal from reading and thinking about it. Any philosopher seeking a rigorous yet generous introduction to the state of contemporary discussion on moral responsibility could hardly do better than to read this book. It is (...)
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  17.  45
    Can a single account of supererogation handle both finite and infinite cases?Holly M. Smith - 2023 - Philosophical Studies 180 (8):2399-2413.
    Discussions of supererogation usually focus on cases in which the agent can choose among a finite number of options. However, Daniel Muñoz has recently shown that cases in which the agent faces an infinite chain of increasingly less good options make trouble for existing definitions of supererogation. Muñoz proposes a promising new definition as a solution to the problem of infinite cases. I argue that any acceptable account of supererogation must (1) enable us to accurately identify supererogatory acts in both (...)
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  18. Intercourse and moral responsibility for the fetus.Holly M. Smith - 1983 - In William B. Bondesson, H. Tristram Englehardt, Stuart Spicker & Daniel H. Winship (eds.), Abortion and the Status of the Fetus. D. Reidel.
    in Abortion and the Status of the Fetus, Volume XIII of the series, “Philosophy of Medicine,” eds. William B. Bondeson, H. Tristram Englehardt, Stuart Spicker, and Daniel H. Winship (Dordrecht, Holland/Boston, Massachusetts: D. Reidel, 1983), pp. 229-245.
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  19.  32
    Making Morality Work By Holly M. Smith.Holly M. Smith - 2022 - Analysis 81 (4):729-731.
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  20.  27
    Replies.Holly M. Smith - 2022 - Analysis 81 (4):758-771.
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  21.  91
    Ignorance and Moral Obligation, by Michael J. Zimmerman.: Table 1.Holly M. Smith - 2016 - Mind 125 (499):935-942.
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  22.  25
    Promising, Intending, and Moral Autonomy.Holly M. Smith - 1987 - Noûs 21 (4):604-608.
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  23.  55
    Introduction.Holly M. Smith - 1986 - Ethics 96 (3):471.
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  24.  48
    Two-Tier Moral Codes: HOLLY M. SMITH.Holly M. Smith - 1989 - Social Philosophy and Policy 7 (1):112-132.
    A moral code consists of principles that assign moral status to individual actions – principles that evaluate acts as right or wrong, prohibited or obligatory, permissible or supererogatory. Many theorists have held that such principles must serve two distinct functions. On the one hand, they serve a theoretical function, insofar as they specify the characteristics in virtue of which acts possess their moral status. On the other hand, they serve a practical function, insofar as they provide an action-guide: a standard (...)
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  25.  76
    (1 other version)Whose body is it, anyway?Holly M. Smith - 1983 - Noûs 17 (1):76.
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  26.  44
    What Makes A Life Worth Saving?Holly M. Smith - 1984 - Hastings Center Report 14 (1):48-48.