The Moral Opacity of Utilitarianism
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2000
Editor(s)
Brad Hooker, Elinor Mason & Dale E. Miller
ISBN
9781474469319
Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Language
en-US
Abstract
Utilitarians sometimes suggest that their moral theory has an advantage over competing theories in basing moral judgements on the consequences of conduct. As its dictates are determined by empirically determinable facts, it offers a procedure for settling moral controversies on objective grounds. One need not appeal, for example, to the dubious authority of ‘moral intuitions’.
Claims like these are subject to familiar objections at various levels. I shall mention a representative sample and then focus on more serious difficulties stemming from aspects of utilitarianism that I believe have not been fully enough explored.
Recommended Citation
David B. Lyons,
The Moral Opacity of Utilitarianism
,
in
Morality, Rules, and Consequences: A Critical Reader
105
(Brad Hooker, Elinor Mason & Dale E. Miller ed.,
2000).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/2406
Working paper version.
Please note the file available on SSRN may not be the final published version of this work.
