Intricate Ethics

Intricate Ethics PDF Author: F. M. Kamm
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195189698
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
In Intricate Ethics, Kamm questions the moral importance of some non-consequentialist distinctions and then introduces and argues for the moral importance of other distinctions. The first section discusses nonconsequentialist ethical theory and the trolley problem; the second deals with the notions of moral status and rights; the third takes up the issues of responsibility and complicity and the possible moral significance of distance; and the fourth section analyzes the views of others in the non-consequentialist and consequentialist camps.

Intricate Ethics

Intricate Ethics PDF Author: F. M. Kamm
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195189698
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Intricate Ethics, Kamm questions the moral importance of some non-consequentialist distinctions and then introduces and argues for the moral importance of other distinctions. The first section discusses nonconsequentialist ethical theory and the trolley problem; the second deals with the notions of moral status and rights; the third takes up the issues of responsibility and complicity and the possible moral significance of distance; and the fourth section analyzes the views of others in the non-consequentialist and consequentialist camps.

Intricate Ethics

Intricate Ethics PDF Author: F.M. Kamm
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199707359
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
"Reading F.M. Kamm's latest book is like watching a brilliant astronomer map an uncharted galaxy--the meticulousness and the display of mental stamina must inspire awe. There is a kind of beauty in the performance alone. Intricate Ethics is a major event in normative ethical theory by a living master of the subject.... In the end, professional moral philosophers cannot reasonably ignore Intricate Ethics.... Kamm continues to prove herself the most imaginative, detail-oriented deontologist writing in English today... Professor Kamm is in a class by herself."--Jeffrey Brand-Ballard, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "The operative word in this masterful work is 'intricate.' Watching Kamm's mind dissect and reconstruct different cases is like watching a juggler, riding a unicycle, carrying on a conversation, while getting dressed. It is a glorious celebration of what moral philosophy does best, and what one of its most gifted practitioners can do to enlighten our understanding of the most pressing ethical issues of our time. But it is also a rich playground for empirically minded philosophers and psychologists who want to play with the clever class of dilemmas that Kamm has created, dilemmas that will both amuse and torture generations of people."--Marc Hauser is a Harvard College Professor and author of "Moral Minds" "Frances Kamm once again proves herself to be an astonishingly subtle and creative defender of a deontological outlook. Anyone at all interested in normative ethics will find something of value in Intricate Ethics. There are striking and original views on a wide range of topics. And no one--absolutely no one--compares to Kamm when it comes to constructing relevant test cases and carefully assessing our intuitive reactions to them. This is a master at work, at the height of her powers."--Shelly Kagan, Clark Professor of Philosophy, Yale University "Intricate Ethics fully justifies its title. It is as deep, subtle, imaginative, and analytically rigorous as any work in moral philosophy written in a great many years. It is dense with highly original and fertile ideas supported by powerful and ingenious arguments. This book amply confirms Frances Kamm's standing as one of the greatest living philosophers.--Jeff McMahan, Rutgers University "Kamm's virtuosity in hypothesizing cases in defense or refutation of moral principles remains unsurpassed. Intricate Ethics is also a testament to the fruitfulness of this rarefied method of ethics. One might have thought that, having already devoted several hundred path-breaking pages to the topic of nonconsequentialism in her earlier two-volume Morality, Mortality, it would have been impossible to break much new ground in this sequel. Yet what Kamm has to say here on the topics of harming and saving from harm is as novel, arresting, and insightful as ever."--Michael Otsuka, Professor of Philosophy, University College London "Kamm ...is the most sophisticated of the contemporary exponents of "intuitionist" or "nonconsequentialist" ethics...No one else makes such extraordinarily meticulous and penetrating attempts to extract the principles behind our ordinary moral intuitions...I highly recommend it as an inclusive and subtle attempt to work out nonconsequentialism on an intuitionist basis. As a bonus, Intricate Ethics also offers searching analyses of the work of Peter Unger, Peter Singer, Bernard Gert, T.M. Scanlon, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky."--Ingmar Persson, Times Literary Supplement

Ethics for Enemies

Ethics for Enemies PDF Author: F. M. Kamm
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0199680590
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Ethics for Enemies comprises three original essays on highly contentious issues in practical moral philosophy. F. M. Kamm presents powerful arguments about the concept and morality of torture; what makes terrorism wrong and whether it is always wrong; and whether the right motivation and the proportionality of harms to good can make war just.

The Trolley Problem Mysteries

The Trolley Problem Mysteries PDF Author: Frances Myrna Kamm
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190247150
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A rigorous treatment of a thought experiment that has become notorious within and outside of philosophy - The Trolley Problem - by one of the most influential moral philosophers alive today Suppose you can stop a trolley from killing five people, but only by turning it onto a side track where it will kill one. May you turn the trolley? What if the only way to rescue the five is to topple a bystander in front of the trolley so that his body stops it but he dies? May you use a device to stop the trolley that will kill a bystander as a side effect? The "Trolley Problem" challenges us to explain and justify our different intuitive judgments about these and related cases and has spawned a huge literature. F.M. Kamm's 2013 Tanner Lectures present some of her views on this notorious moral conundrum. After providing a brief history of changing views of what the problem is about and attempts to solve it, she focuses on two prominent issues: Does who turns the trolley and how the harm is shifted affect the moral permissibility of acting? The answers to these questions lead to general proposals about when we may and may not harm some to help others. Three distinguished philosophers - Judith Jarvis Thomson (one of the originators of the trolley problem), Thomas Hurka, and Shelly Kagan - then comment on Kamm's proposals. She responds to each comment at length, providing an exceptionally rich elaboration and defense of her views. The Trolley Problem Mysteries is an invaluable resource not only to philosophers concerned about the Trolley Problem, but to anyone worried about how we ought to act when we can lessen harm to some by harming others and how we can reach a decision about the question.

The Moral Target

The Moral Target PDF Author: F.M. Kamm
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199897522
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
This title comprises essays that discuss aspects of war and other conflicts in the light of nonconsequentialist ethical theory. The topics include the relation between conditions that justify starting war and those that justify stopping it, the treatment of combatants and noncombatants in war, and much more.

Conversations on Ethics

Conversations on Ethics PDF Author: Alex Voorhoeve
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191616958
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
Can we trust our intuitive judgments of right and wrong? Are moral judgements objective? What reason do we have to do what is right and avoid doing what is wrong? In Conversations on Ethics, Alex Voorhoeve elicits answers to these questions from eleven outstanding philosophers and social scientists: Ken Binmore Philippa Foot Harry Frankfurt Allan Gibbard Daniel Kahneman Frances Kamm Alasdair MacIntyre T. M. Scanlon Peter Singer David Velleman Bernard Williams The exchanges are direct, open, and sharp, and give a clear account of these thinkers' core ideas about ethics. They also provide unique insights into their intellectual development - how they became interested in ethics, and how they conceived the ideas for which they became famous. Conversations on Ethics will engage anyone interested in moral philosophy.

The Limits of Realism

The Limits of Realism PDF Author: Tim Button
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199672172
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Tim Button explores the relationship between minds, words, and world. He argues that the two main strands of scepticism are deeply related and can be overcome, but that there is a limit to how much we can show. We must position ourselves somewhere between internal realism and external realism, and we cannot hope to say exactly where.

Rights and Their Limits

Rights and Their Limits PDF Author: F. M. Kamm
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197567738
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
In this volume, F.M. Kamm explores how theories as well as hypothetical and practical cases help us understand rights and their limits. The book begins by considering moral status and its relation to having rights (including whether non-human animals have rights and what rights future persons have). The author then considers whether rights are grounded in duties to oneself, which duties are correlative to rights, and whether neuroscientific and psychological studies can help determine what rights we have. Kamm next investigates the contours of the right not to be harmed by considering critiques of deontological distinctions, the costs that must be undertaken to avoid harming, and a proposal for permissibly harming someone (that allows for resisting the harm) in the Trolley Problem. Additional chapters cover possible implications of the Trolley Problem for such practical issues as correctly programming self-driving cars, providing medical treatments, and enacting redistributive economic policy. Kamm concludes the book by comparing the use of case-based judgments about extreme cases in moral versus aesthetic theory, and by exploring the significance of the right not to be harmed for morally correct policies in the extreme cases of torture and a pandemic. Where pertinent, Kamm considers the views of Derek Parfit, Tom Regan, Christine Korsgaard, Shelly Kagan, Ronald Dworkin, Amartya Sen, Allan Gibbard, Joshua Greene, Arthur Danto, and Judith Thomson, among others.

Philippa Foot's Moral Thought

Philippa Foot's Moral Thought PDF Author: John Hacker-Wright
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441157387
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
Philippa Foot (1920-2010) is widely regarded as one of the most important Anglophone moral philosophers of the 20th century. She pioneered a distinctive approach to philosophical treatment of ethics using the tools of analytic philosophy. She defended the objectivity of moral judgment and took controversial positions on abortion and euthanasia. She was also a leading figure behind the revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics in contemporary philosophy. This book represents the first comprehensive and accessible introduction to Foot's work. It offers a complete chronological and thematic overview, emphasising the role Foot played in the development of contemporary virtue ethics. It situates her thought in the context of the historical development of analytic moral philosophy and discusses the various objections to her views. Foot's writings take the form of essays that take up small problems within moral philosophy. Yet John Hacker-Wright argues that there is nevertheless a coherent, systematic moral perspective throughout Foot's work that she does not make fully explicit. This is the ideal introduction for students seeking a synthetic grasp of Foot's moral vision.

Shades of Goodness

Shades of Goodness PDF Author: R. Lawlor
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230239277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
It is typically thought that the demandingness problem is specifically a problem for consequentialists because of the gradable nature of consequentialist theories. Shades of Goodness argues that most moral theories have a gradable structure and, more significantly, that this is an advantage, rather than a disadvantage, for those theories.