More Problems for the Counterfactual Comparative Account of Harm and Benefit

The counterfactual comparative account of harm and benefit (CCA) has several virtues, but it also faces serious problems. I argue that CCA is incompatible with the prudential and moral relevance of harm and benefit. Some possible ways to revise or restrict CCA, in order to avoid this conclusion, are...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carlson, Erik 1961- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: [2019]
In: Ethical theory and moral practice
Year: 2019, Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Pages: 795-807
IxTheo Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCC Social ethics
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Contrastivism
B Prudential reasons
B Benefit
B Counterfactual comparative account
B Harm
B Contextualism
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Summary:The counterfactual comparative account of harm and benefit (CCA) has several virtues, but it also faces serious problems. I argue that CCA is incompatible with the prudential and moral relevance of harm and benefit. Some possible ways to revise or restrict CCA, in order to avoid this conclusion, are discussed and found wanting. Finally, I try to show that appealing to the context-sensitivity of counterfactuals, or to the alleged contrastive nature of harm and benefit, does not provide a solution.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contains:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-018-9931-5