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21The 'collective' interpretation of utilitarian generalizationPhilosophical Studies 34 (2). 1978.Peer Reviewed.
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162The Subjective Moral Duty to Inform Oneself before ActingEthics 125 (1): 11-38. 2014.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…Read more
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70Moral realism, moral conflict, and compound actsJournal of Philosophy 83 (6): 341-345. 1986.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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645Doing the Best One CanIn Alvin Goldman & Jaegwon Kim (eds.), Values and Morals, Reidel. pp. 185--214. 1978.
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409Two Concepts of DemocracyIn Norman Bowie (ed.), Ethical Issues in Government, Temple University Press. 1981.
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42Two-Tier Moral Codes: HOLLY M. SMITHSocial Philosophy and Policy 7 (1): 112-132. 1989.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 a…Read more
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37Goldman's 'level-2' act descriptions and utilitarian generalizationPhilosophical Studies 30 (1). 1976.
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806Measuring the Consequences of Rules: Holly M. SmithUtilitas 22 (4): 413-433. 2010.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 a…Read more
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72Does Being Morally Responsible Depend on the Ability to Hold Morally Responsible?Philosophical Studies 171 (1): 51-62. 2014.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 bet…Read more
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1686Deriving Morality from RationalityIn Peter Vallentyne (ed.), Contractarianism and Rational choice: Essays on David Gauthier's Morals by Agreement, Cambridge University Press. 1991.
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384Two-Tier Moral CodesSocial Philosophy and Policy 7 (1): 112. 1989.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 a…Read more
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531Intercourse and moral responsibility for the fetusIn William B. Bondesson, H. Tristram Englehardt, Stuart Spicker & Daniel H. Winship (eds.), Abortion and the Status of the Fetus, D. Reidel. 1983.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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545A paradox of promisingPhilosophical Review 106 (2): 153-196. 1997.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…Read more
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250Whose body is it, anyway?Philosophical Perspectives 6 73-96. 1992.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.