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    If social utility shifts, acts once classified as superer... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Sanction utilitarianism does not face the problems that act utilitarianism faces regarding the fourfold moral distinction.

    If social utility shifts, acts once classified as supererogatory become obligatory or forbidden, making the fourfold distinction unstable rather than genuinely preserved.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Moral categories derive their meaning from their functional role in promoting welfare, not from abstract definitions independent of outcomes.
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    • 2.If utility shifts, the practical guidance each category provides changes, rendering previous classifications contextually false or misleading.
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    • 3.A stable fourfold distinction requires fixed boundaries, but utility-dependent reclassification demonstrates those boundaries are permeable.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.A category's definition can remain stable even if which acts fall into it varies with circumstances—like 'poisonous' applies differently to water and arsenic.
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    • 2.Supererogatory acts are defined by exceeding duty, not by fixed utility; reclassifying due to utility shifts preserves this structural distinction.
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    • 3.Stability means consistent application of criteria, not unchanging membership; moral frameworks can be stable while their application context-shifts.
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    Consequentialism1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    A category's definition can remain stable even if which acts fall into it varies...A stable fourfold distinction requires fixed boundaries, but utility-dependent r...If utility shifts, the practical guidance each category provides changes, render...Moral categories derive their meaning from their functional role in promoting we...
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    Sanction utilitarianism does not face the problems that act utilitarianism faces...Stability means consistent application of criteria, not unchanging membership; m...Supererogatory acts are defined by exceeding duty, not by fixed utility; reclass...

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