On the moral importance of numbers, relevance and the workings of non-aggregative reasoning
How can we explain why a morally motivated stranger should cure a large number of persons from permanent paralysis instead of saving one from death, but should save one from death instead of curing a multitude from being bedridden for a day? An interesting family of responses to this question employ...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Peeters
[2016]
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| In: |
Ethical perspectives
Year: 2016, Volume: 23, Issue: 3, Pages: 527-543 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Moral judgment
/ Number
/ Aggregation
/ Paired comparison method
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| IxTheo Classification: | NCA Ethics VA Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | How can we explain why a morally motivated stranger should cure a large number of persons from permanent paralysis instead of saving one from death, but should save one from death instead of curing a multitude from being bedridden for a day? An interesting family of responses to this question employs both a non-aggregative and an aggregative approach to the distribution of scarce benefits, arbitrating between them. Focusing on Alex Voorhoeve's uniquely well-developed version of this response, I demonstrate that his argument lacks the necessary resources to prove its point in that it rests on a specific interpretation of the non-aggregative approach without even acknowledging the existence of a conflict with an established alternative and, therefore, without justifying the interpretation of non-aggregative reasoning its conclusions depend upon. This problem has important implications for the appeal of non-aggregative approaches to the distribution of benefits, while the highlighted conflict of possible interpretations should be of interest to anyone who aims to understand how non-aggregative reasoning works. |
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| ISSN: | 1370-0049 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ethical perspectives
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/EP.23.3.3170043 |