On Indirectly Self-defeating Moral Theories

Abstract Derek Parfit has notably argued that while a moral theory should not be directly self-defeating, there is nothing necessarily wrong with a moral theory that is only indirectly self-defeating. Here I resist this line of argument. I argue instead that indirectly self-defeating moral theories...

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Autor principal: Wiland, Eric (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
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Publicado: Brill 2008
En: Journal of moral philosophy
Año: 2008, Volumen: 5, Número: 3, Páginas: 384-393
Otras palabras clave:B Utilitarianism
B SELF-DEFEATING
B PARFIT
B INDIRECT
B DISPOSITION
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Sumario:Abstract Derek Parfit has notably argued that while a moral theory should not be directly self-defeating, there is nothing necessarily wrong with a moral theory that is only indirectly self-defeating. Here I resist this line of argument. I argue instead that indirectly self-defeating moral theories are indeed problematic. Parfit tries to sidestep the oddities of indirectly self-defeating theories by focusing on the choice of dispositions rather than actions. But the very considerations that can make it impossible to achieve a theory's aims if we try to do what the theory recommends can also make it impossible to achieve a theory's aims if we instead try to adopt the dispositions the theory recommends. What makes a theory indirectly self-defeating has little to do with the object of choice, but with the nature of choosing itself.
ISSN:1745-5243
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Journal of moral philosophy
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/174552408X369727