•  2
    Betrakta det goda
    Akademilitt.. 1979.
  •  1
    Understanding ethics
    Edinburgh University Press. 2013.
    Torbjörn Tännsjö presents 7 radically different moral theories - utilitarianism, egoism, deontological ethics, the ethics of rights, virtue ethics, feminist ethics, environmental or ecological ethics - each of which attempts to provide the ultimate answer to the question of what we ought to do and why.
  •  1
    Vänsterdocenten
    Fri Tanke. 2017.
  •  8
    Much has been written about recidivist punishments, particularly within the area of criminology. However there is a notorious lack of penal philosophical reflection on this issue. This book attempts to fill that gap by presenting the philosopher’s view on this matter as a way of furthering the debate on recidivist punishments
  •  42
    The Repugnant Conclusion: Essays on Population Ethics (edited book)
    Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2004.
    Most people (including moral philosophers), when faced with the fact that some of their cherished moral views lead up to the Repugnant Conclusion, feel that they have to revise their moral outlook. However, it is a moot question as to how this should be done. It is not an easy thing to say how one should avoid the Repugnant Conclusion, without having to face even more serious implications from one's basic moral outlook. Several such attempts are presented in this volume. This is the first volume…Read more
  •  4
    This book is about how best to respond to existential global threats posed by war and global heating. The stakes have become existential. A strong claim in the book is that we need a world state to save humanity. The book sheds new light on why this is so. The present author has long advocated global democracy. A strong argument against global democracy has been, however, that no state has ever been established without the resort to violence. In this book, the author bites the bullet and advocat…Read more
  • Review (review)
    with Roger Crisp and Sören Halldén
    Theoria 57 (1-2): 115-126. 1991.
    Jeffrey Reiman, Justice and Modern Moral Philosophy, New Haven and LondonEvan Fales, Causation and Universals. London and New York: RoutledgeDavid Lamb, Organ Transplants and Ethics. London and New York: Routledge, 1990.
  •  16
    Moral Realism
    Philosophical Quarterly 42 (169): 514. 1992.
    '...the book is very dense with ideas...arguments concerning innumerable interesting points are always worth pondering.'-THE PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW
  •  103
    Collectivities, just like individuals, exist, can act, bear responsibility for their acts and omissions, and be guilty. It sometimes makes sense to hold them responsible for what they do, or don't do, and to punish them for their misdeeds. With respect to many collectivities there is no practical purpose in holding them responsible, since there is no way that we can bring them to justice. But there are exceptions from this rule. In particular it is plausible to assume that sanctions against enti…Read more
  •  33
    Methodological individualism
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 33 (1): 69-80. 1990.
    The doctrine of methodological individualism is clarified and different versions of it are distinguished. The main thesis of the article is that methodological individualism is either a false doctrine or else a doctrine compatible with functionalism, structuralism, and Marxism. Positively it is maintained that, for all we know, collective entities such as power structures may shape our beliefs and values; these beliefs and values may explain some of our actions and expectations. These actions an…Read more
  •  110
    Ought We to Enhance Our Cognitive Capacities?1
    Bioethics 23 (7): 421-432. 2009.
    ABSTRACT Ought we to improve our cognitive capacities beyond the normal human range? It might be a good idea to level out differences between peoples cognitive capacities; and some people's reaching beyond normal capacities may have some good side‐effects on society at large (but also bad side‐effects, of course). But is there any direct gain to be made from having ones cognitive capacities enhanced? Would this as such make our lives go better? No, I argue; or at least there doesn't seem to be a…Read more
  •  3
    Human genetics and the Nazi Spectre
    Monash Bioethics Review 18 (1): 13-21. 1999.
  •  259
    Moral conflict and moral realism
    Journal of Philosophy 82 (3): 113-117. 1985.
    There are genuine moral conflicts. sometimes by doing what we ought to do we do what we ought not to do. "pace" bernard williams the existence of such conflicts is compatible with the truth of moral realism. we realize this when we understand that ascriptions of rightness, wrongness, and obligatoriness are "de re" rather than "de dicto"
  •  3
    Setting Health-Care Priorities: A Reply to Piotr Lichacz
    Roczniki Filozoficzne 70 (2): 259-264. 2022.
    I discuss the comments from Professor Piotr Lichacz on my book, Setting Health-Care Priorities. What Ethical Theories Tell Us. The idea that our reluctance to let go of life and abstain from marginal life extension is irrational is defended against his criticism. The methodology used in the book—urging us to rely in our testing on ethical theories on the content of our considered moral intuitions—is explained at length and the notion of cognitive psychotherapy involved in it is defended.
  •  15
    Hedonistic Utilitarianism
    Edinburgh University Press. 1998.
    This volume presents a comprehensive statement in defense of the doctrine known as classical, hedonistic utilitarianism. It is presented as a viable alternative in the search for a moral theory and the claim is defended that we need such a theory. The book offers a distinctive approach and some quite controversial conclusions. Torbjorn Tannsjo challenges the assumption that hedonistic utilitarianism is at variance with common sense morality particularly as viewed through the perspective of the m…Read more
  •  12
    Understanding Ethics
    Edinburgh University Press. 2013.
    How can we find true or reasonable moral principles to live our everyday lives by? Torbjorn Tannsjo presents 7 radically different moral theories - utilitarianism, egoism, deontological ethics, the ethics of rights, virtue ethics, feminist ethics, environmental or ecological ethics - each of which attempts to provide the ultimate answer to the question of what we ought to do and why. He carefully describes each theory, showing how it works in practice using the &quote;trolley problem&quote; thou…Read more
  •  7
    This is a short reply to Professor Reichlin’s comment on my book Setting Health-Care Priorities. What Ethical Theories Tell Us. The version of prioritarianism I rely on in the book is defended as the most plausible one. The general claim that there is convergence between all plausible theories on distributive justice is also defended with regard to assisted reproduction, disability, and enhancement.
  •  10
    Assume that neuro-doping is safe and efficient. This means that the use of it, and similar future safe methods of enhancement in sport, may help those who are naturally weak to catch up with those who are naturally strong and sometimes even defeat them. The rationale behind anti-doping measures seem to presuppose that this is unfair. But the idea that those who are naturally strong should defeat those who are naturally weak rests on a fascistoid ideology that sport had better leave behind. Neuro…Read more
  •  19
    The article provides answers to comments in this journal on my recent book, Setting Health-Care Priorities. What Ethical Theories Tell Us. Did I address all of the relevant theories? Yes, I did. Was my argument underdeveloped in any respects? Yes, at least in one as I should perhaps have discussed contractual ethical thinking more carefully. I do so in this response. Moreover, the critical comments raised have helped me to clarify my argument in many ways, for which I thank my critics.
  •  1075
    What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion?
    with Stephane Zuber, Nikhil Venkatesh, Christian Tarsney, H. Orri Stefánsson, Katie Steele, Dean Spears, Jeff Sebo, Marcus Pivato, Toby Ord, Yew-Kwang Ng, Michal Masny, William MacAskill, Nicholas Lawson, Kevin Kuruc, Michelle Hutchinson, Johan E. Gustafsson, Hilary Greaves, Lisa Forsberg, Marc Fleurbaey, Diane Coffey, Susumu Cato, Clinton Castro, Tim Campbell, Mark Budolfson, John Broome, Alexander Berger, Nick Beckstead, and Geir B. Asheim
    Utilitas 33 (4): 379-383. 2021.
    The Repugnant Conclusion served an important purpose in catalyzing and inspiring the pioneering stage of population ethics research. We believe, however, that the Repugnant Conclusion now receives too much focus. Avoiding the Repugnant Conclusion should no longer be the central goal driving population ethics research, despite its importance to the fundamental accomplishments of the existing literature.
  •  10
    Who Are the Beneficiaries?
    Bioethics 6 (4): 288-296. 2007.
  •  12
    Assume that neuro-doping is safe and efficient. This means that the use of it, and similar future safe methods of enhancement in sport, may help those who are naturally weak to catch up with those who are naturally strong and sometimes even defeat them. The rationale behind anti-doping measures seem to presuppose that this is unfair. But the idea that those who are naturally strong should defeat those who are naturally weak rests on a fascistoid ideology that sport had better leave behind. Neuro…Read more
  •  36
    Total views imply what Derek Parfit has called ‘the repugnant conclusion’. There are several strategies aimed at debunking the intuition that this implication is repugnant. In particular, it goes away when we consider the principle of unrestricted instantiation, according to which any instantiation of the repugnant conclusion must appear repugnant if we should be warranted in relying on it as evidence against total theories. However, there are instantiations of the conclusion where it doesn't se…Read more
  •  40
    The Repugnant Conclusion
    In Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2017.
  •  11
  •  38
    Global Democracy and the Resort to Despotism: Global Democracy Revisited
    Philosophical Papers 48 (1): 83-101. 2019.
    There exist existential global problems we cannot solve unless we resort to a world government. It is desirable that such a government can be held responsible by a democratically elected wo...
  •  24
    Metaphysics and Morality
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 41 (3): 355-359. 1998.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  78
    Consequentialism and Free Will
    The Harvard Review of Philosophy 24 23-41. 2017.
    Many moral theories incorporate the idea that when an action is wrong, it is wrong because that there was something else that the agent could and should have done instead. Most notable among these are consequentialist theories. According to consequentialism an action A is wrong if and only if there was another action B that the agent could have performed such that, if the agent had performed B instead of A, the consequences would have been better. Relatively little attention has been given to th…Read more
  •  14
    In Defence of Theory in Ethics
    Canadian Journal of Philosophy 25 (4): 571-593. 1995.
    Particularism is in vogue in ethics today. Particularism is sometimes described as the idea that what is a sufficient moral reason in one situation need not be a sufficient moral reason in another situation. Indeed, it has been held, on particularism, what is a reason for an action in one situation might be a reason against the same type of action, or might not be a reason at all, in another situation. However, this description is insufficient. Even a generalist, such as a utilitarian, may admit…Read more
  •  57