Week 3: Consequentialism and Constraints

Essay question

Is consequentialism too permissive?

Key readings

• Kamm, F. M. Nonconsequentialism, in Hugh LaFollette (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, 2000, pp. 205-219.
• Foot, Philippa, The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect, in Virtues and Vices, and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978, pp. 19-33.
• Nozick, Robert, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, New York: Basic Books, 1974, pp. 28-42.
• Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, Consequentialism, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring, 2014, sect. 5.

Further reading

• Bennett, Jonathan, The Act Itself, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995, chs. 5-8, 11.
• Fitzpatrick, W. J., Acts, Intentions, and Moral Permissibility, Analysis, vol. 63, no. 4 (October, 2003), pp. 317-321.
• Harris, Jonathan, The Survival Lottery, Philosophy, vol. 50, no. 191 (January, 1975), pp. 81-87.
• Kamm, F. M. Harming Some to Save Others, Philosophical Studies, vol. 57, no. 3 (November, 1989), pp. 227-260.
• McMahan, Jeff, Killing, Letting Die, and Withdrawing Aid, Ethics, vol. 103, no. 2 (January, 1993), pp. 250-279.
• Thomson, J. J., The Trolley Problem, The Yale Law Journal, vol. 94, no. 6 (May, 1985), pp. 1395-1415.

Exam questions

• How might a deontologist explain why it is wrong for me to kill another person, even if that is the only way to prevent two or more killings by others?
• Does consequentialism pose a threat to individual rights?
• Would it be wrong of a vet to cut up one healthy cat to save five other cats?