UTILITARIZMUS AKO PRAKTICKÁ VOĽBA S EMPIRICKOU PODPOROU V ETIKE JOSHUU GREENA – KRITICKÁ REFLEXIA

• Authors: Spodniak Stanislav

Title variants

EN

Utilitarianism as a pragmatic choice with empirical support in Joshua Greene’s ethics – a critical analysis

• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

The aim of this paper is to critically analyse Joshua Greene’s arguments in favour of utilitarianism and against deontology. There are two main arguments with which Greene supports his utilitarian ethical position. The first is meta-ethical argument, which redefines the purpose of ethics as a search for those moral norms and principles that fulfil our practical need to resolve moral conflicts in the most successful way. The second argument is based on Greene’s psychological research on trolley problems. The thesis of this paper is that the stated arguments do not sufficiently justify favouring utilitarianism over deontology. It is an unjustified belief that the aim of ethics should be the search for the most successful way to resolve moral conflicts. There is at least one alternative position, according to which the role of ethics is to find the best way to deal with human vulnerability and dependence on other members of society. Acceptance of this interpretation of ethics would inevitably lead to acceptance of the deontological language of appeals to moral duties and obligations, which Greene rejects.

Keywords

EN

ETHICS; DEONTOLOGY; DUAL PROCESS THEORY; GREENE JOSHUA; UTILITARIANISM

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Filozofia (Philosophy)
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 76
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 451 – 464

Contributors

author

Spodniak Stanislav

• Univerzita Mateja Bela, Filozofická fakulta, Tajovského 40, 974 01 Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/filozofia.2021.76.6.5