Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Parfit's impersonal reformulation, by permitting rejectio... — Carmelics
    Home
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Part of a larger discussion

    Challenges→Parfit's impersonal reformulation of contractualism is superior to Scanlon's original formulation for the purposes of the convergence argument.

    Parfit's impersonal reformulation, by permitting rejection on grounds of aggregate welfare, collapses into a form of consequentialism, defeating the purpose of a distinctively contractualist convergence.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Contractualism's core appeal is that it justifies principles through reciprocal acceptability, not aggregate outcomes.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Permitting rejection based on aggregate welfare allows one party's greater benefit to override another's veto, violating mutual justifiability.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If impersonal reformulation collapses into consequentialism, it loses what distinguishes contractualism from classical utilitarianism.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Parfit's impersonal principle can constrain aggregate maximization through reasonable rejectability constraints that aren't purely utilitarian.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Contractualism itself requires some impartial standard to determine which rejections are reasonable, making some consequentialist reasoning necessary.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.A view can retain contractualist distinctiveness while incorporating aggregate welfare as one input among reciprocal-acceptability conditions.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Key Terms

    Aggregate welfare(what consequentialist ethics prioritizes (competing with agent-relative restrictions))
    The total well-being or happiness of everyone combined, added up together as one sum.
    Parfit
    Derek Parfit was a highly influential British philosopher known for revolutionizing how we think about personal identity, morality, and what makes life worth living. He argued that our sense of being a continuous, unified "self" is partly an illusion, and that what really matters is the continuation of our thoughts and experiences, not some invisible thread connecting us through time. His ideas have shaped modern ethics and how philosophers approach questions about identity, responsibility, and how we should treat future generations.
    consequentialism(Applied to terrorism and legal punishment)
    The view that practices are judged solely by their consequences, such that a practice is wrong only if it has bad consequences on balance.
    contractualism
    A moral theory presented as a genuine alternative to both consequentialism and Kantian ethics, one that coheres with distinctively non-utilitarian intuitions in certain key cases
    convergence(alternative to consensus-based public reason)
    A model of public justification that allows appeals to religious reasons, thereby not requiring exclusively secular justifications
    impersonal reformulation(describing Parfit's approach to ethics)
    A way of restating or reworking an idea so that it doesn't focus on individual people's relationships or agreements, but instead treats everyone's welfare equally and impartially.

    Connections

    2 topics

    No other argument is better1 linkedConsequentialism1 linked

    Related

    A view can retain contractualist distinctiveness while incorporating aggregate w...Contractualism itself requires some impartial standard to determine which reject...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Contractualism's core appeal is that it justifies principles through reciprocal ...
    If impersonal reformulation collapses into consequentialism, it loses what disti...
    +3 moreShow less
    Parfit's impersonal principle can constrain aggregate maximization through reaso...Parfit's impersonal reformulation of contractualism is superior to Scanlon's ori...Permitting rejection based on aggregate welfare allows one party's greater benef...