If rightmaking properties track positive ontological content while wrongmaking properties track privation or absence (as Augustinian privatio boni holds), the two classes are asymmetric in kind.

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1 reason against

Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Privation requires a substrate (e.g., blindness requires eyes); positive properties need no such dependence, establishing fundamental asymmetry.
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2.Wrongmaking properties causally depend on prior rightmaking properties existing; the reverse dependency doesn't hold universally.
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3.Evil acts require capacity for good (moral agents); good acts don't require prior evil capacity, confirming ontological asymmetry.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Privation theory cannot account for positive malevolence (actively willing harm); malice isn't mere absence but intentional content.
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2.If wrongmaking properties are pure absences, they cannot causally explain moral wrongs—yet absences don't cause events.
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3.The asymmetry claim presupposes what it proves: that positive properties are 'real' while privations are 'not,' begging the question.
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Key Terms

Asymmetric in kind(in logic/metaphysics): Different in their fundamental nature or category—not just in degree, but in the type of thing they are.
Augustine(as the main subject of the statement): An influential early Christian philosopher (354-430 CE) whose writings shaped Western Christianity and philosophy; he argued that God's grace and predestination determine who goes to heaven.
Augustinian privatio boni(in philosophy of evil and theology): A theory by the Christian philosopher Augustine that evil is not a real thing but simply the absence of goodness—like darkness is just the absence of light.
Ontological: "Ontological" refers to questions about what actually exists or is real. It's concerned with the fundamental nature of being—asking "What kinds of things are there?" rather than "How do we know about them?" For example, an ontological question might be whether numbers, ideas, or God actually exist as real things, or if they're just human inventions.
Positive ontological content(in metaphysics): Something that genuinely exists or has real, actual being—as opposed to something that is merely an absence or lack.
Privation(Fârâbî uses privation to link deficiency to potentiality: to be deprived of F entails the potentiality to be F.): The absence or lack of a property or perfection that a being is of the kind to possess.
Track(logic and argument): In philosophy, this means 'correspond to' or 'align with'—so 'deontic distinctions track blame' means moral rules match up with who we blame.
rightmaking properties(explaining what makes an action ethically justified): The features or characteristics of an action that make it morally right or good.
wrongmaking properties(explaining what makes an action ethically problematic): The features or characteristics of an action that make it morally wrong or bad.

Connections

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Problem of Evil1 linked

Evil acts require capacity for good (moral agents); good acts don't require prio...If wrongmaking properties are pure absences, they cannot causally explain moral ...Privation requires a substrate (e.g., blindness requires eyes); positive propert...Privation theory cannot account for positive malevolence (actively willing harm)...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit