Dietrich, Franz and List, Christian (2017) What Matters and How it Matters: A Choice-Theoretic Representation of Moral Theories. The Philosophical Review, 126 (4). pp. 421-479.
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Abstract
This paper is a contribution to decision theory and formal ethics. We present a new “reason-based” approach to the formal representation of moral theories, building on recent decision-theoretic work. We show that any moral theory within a very large class can be represented in terms of two parameters: (i) a specification of which properties of the objects of moral choice matter in any given context, and (ii) a specification of how these properties matter. Reason-based representations provide a very general taxonomy of moral theories, as differences among theories can be attributed to differences in their two key parameters. We can thus formalize several salient distinctions among moral theories, such as between consequentialist and non-consequentialist theories, between universalist and relativist theories, between agent-neutral and agent-relative theories, between monistic and pluralistic theories, between atomistic and holistic theories, and between theories with a teleological structure and those without. Reason-based representations also shed light on an important but under-appreciated phenomenon: the “underdetermination of moral theory by deontic content”. In discussing this phenomenon, we draw on ideas from the philosophy of science, particularly in relation to Quine's empirical underdetermination thesis.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | |||||||||
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| Keywords: | Moral theories, formal representation, taxonomy, choice theory, consequentialism and non-consequentialism, universalism and relativism, weighing of reasons, underdetermination in morality, Quine's empirical underdetermination thesis | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory Specific Sciences > Economics General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Structure of Theories |
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| Depositing User: | Christian List | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 01 Feb 2018 22:43 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 01 Feb 2018 22:43 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 14343 | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | The Philosophical Review | |||||||||
| Official URL: | https://read.dukeupress.edu/the-philosophical-revi... | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory Specific Sciences > Economics General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Structure of Theories |
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| Date: | October 2017 | |||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 421-479 | |||||||||
| Volume: | 126 | |||||||||
| Number: | 4 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14343 |
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