Contingency, arbitrariness, and the basis of moral equality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21379261 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Giacomo Floris (0000-0003-0904-570X, Department of Philosophy University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 224-234 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ratio (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-0006 • E-ISSN: 1467-9329 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/rati.12382 |
| OpenAlex | W4378468632 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 17 |
Hardly anyone denies that (nearly) all human beings have equal moral status and therefore should be considered and treated as equals. Yet, if humans possess the property that confers moral status upon them to an unequal degree, how come they should be considered and treated as equals ? It has been argued that this is because the variations in the degree to which the status‐conferring property is held above a relevant threshold are contingencies that do not generate differences in degrees of moral status. Call this the contingency argument for the basis of moral equality . In this paper, I reject the contingency argument. Instead, I develop an attitude‐based account of the basis of moral equality : according to this account, the basis of moral equality lies in a fitting, basic, and independent moral attitude which is owed to human beings qua moral status‐holders, and provides a coherent and plausible explanation for why the variations above the threshold for moral status do not matter
Arbitrariness · Argument (complex analysis) · Contingency · Epistemology · Moral disengagement · Property (philosophy) · Sociology · Free Will and Agency · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Social Psychology
On the Basis of Moral Equality
A Theory of Justice
One Another’s Equals
The Basis of Equality
Respect and the Basis of Equality
Humanity without Dignity
Two Kinds of Respect
Are Adults and Children One Another’s Moral Equals
A pluralist account of the basis of moral status
Two concerns about the rejection of social cruelty as the basis of moral equality
Rawls on Natural Inequality
Contemporary political philosophy
Fittingness
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |