Supererogation and Consequentialism

Bibliographic Data

ID23617693
AuthorsAlex Archer (0000-0001-9398-6427, Tilburg University, corresponding author), Alfred Archer (Philosophy, Tilburg University)
Year2020
Pages269-288
Publication date2020-10-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueOxford Handbook of Consequentialism (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190905323.013.17
OpenAlexW3049232240
ISBN9780190905323
LanguageEN
References cited11

The thought that acts of supererogation exist presents a challenge to all normative ethical theories. This chapter will provide an overview of the consequentialist responses to this challenge. I will begin by explaining the problem that supererogation presents for consequentialism. I will then explore consequentialist attempts to deny the existence of acts of supererogation. Next, I will examine a range of act consequentialist attempts to accommodate supererogation, including satisficing consequentialism, dual-ranking act consequentialism, and an anti-rationalist form of consequentialism. Finally, I will explore how indirect consequentialists have responded to this problem. Throughout the chapter, I will argue that in responding to the challenge of supererogation, consequentialists must choose between a more theoretically satisfying version of consequentialism and a form of consequentialism that is better able to accommodate our everyday moral intuitions and concepts.

Consequentialism · Economics · Epistemology · Microeconomics · Normative · Satisficing · Ethics in medical practice · Free Will and Agency · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy

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