Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
The Moral Evaluation of Past Tragedies: A New Puzzle
In: Journal of Moral PhilosophyThe past is full of terrible tragedies, including slavery, World War I, and the Holocaust. Morality would clearly appear to support the preference that the victims of those calamities would have lived free and peaceful lives. And yet, a puzzle or even a paradox appears to be lurking here. Moral evaluation can be either personal or impersonal, yet neither one of these two perspectives, nor any other prevalent moral evaluation of events, appears to yield the morally expected conclusion. To the best of my knowledge this puzzle has not been discussed before. If there is no way to escape this surprising conclusion, then morality appears to be much more grim and unsympathetic than we normally think.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Adams Robert Merrihew 2009. “Love and the Problem of Evil,” in Tabensky Pedro Alexis , ed., The Positive Function of Evil. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
-
Elster John 1993. “Ethical Individualism and Presentism,” Monist 76: 333–348.
-
Kahane Guy (2017). “History and Persons,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research; doi: .10.1111/phpr.12479
-
Levy Neil 2002. “The Apology Paradox and the Non-Identity Problem,” Philosophical Quarterly 52: 358–368.
-
Metz Thaddeus 2009. “Love and Emotional Reactions to Necessary Evils,” in Tabensky Pedro Alexis , ed., The Positive Function of Evil. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
-
Parfit Derek 1984. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Roberts Melinda A. and Wasserman David T. , eds. 2009. Harming Future Persons: Ethics, Genetics and the Nonidentity Problem. Springer.
-
Ryberg Jesper and Tannsjo Torbjorn , eds. 2004. The Repugnant Conclusion: Essays on Population Ethics. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
-
Sher George (1981). “Ancient Wrongs and Modern Rights,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 10: 3–17.
-
Sikora R.I. and Barry Brian , eds. 1978. Obligations to Future Generations. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
-
Smilansky Saul (2013a). “Morally, Should We Prefer Never to Have Existed?,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 91: 655–666.
-
Smilansky Saul (2013b). “Free Will as a Case of ‘Crazy Ethics’,” in Caruso Gregg , ed., Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility. Lexington Books.
-
Smilansky Saul (2016). “Gratitude: The Dark Side,” in Carr David , ed., Perspectives on Gratitude. New York: Routledge.
-
Smilansky Saul (2019). “The Good, the Bad, and the Nonidentity Problem: Reflections on Jewish History,” in Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age, Lebens Sam , Rabinowitz Dani and Segal Aaron , eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Tabensky Pedro Alexis , ed. 2009. The Positive Function of Evil. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
-
Thompson Janna 2000. “The Apology Paradox,” Philosophical Quarterly 50: 470–475.
-
Wallace R. J. (2013). The View from Here. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 467 | 75 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 47 | 6 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 74 | 10 | 0 |
The Moral Evaluation of Past Tragedies: A New Puzzle
In: Journal of Moral PhilosophyThe past is full of terrible tragedies, including slavery, World War I, and the Holocaust. Morality would clearly appear to support the preference that the victims of those calamities would have lived free and peaceful lives. And yet, a puzzle or even a paradox appears to be lurking here. Moral evaluation can be either personal or impersonal, yet neither one of these two perspectives, nor any other prevalent moral evaluation of events, appears to yield the morally expected conclusion. To the best of my knowledge this puzzle has not been discussed before. If there is no way to escape this surprising conclusion, then morality appears to be much more grim and unsympathetic than we normally think.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 467 | 75 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 47 | 6 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 74 | 10 | 0 |