Deontology, Individualism, and Uncertainty: A Reply to Jackson and Smith

The Journal of Philosophy 105 (5) (2008).

14 Pages Posted: 18 May 2015 Last revised: 19 May 2015

See all articles by Ron Aboodi

Ron Aboodi

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Centre for Moral and Political Philosophy

Adi Borer

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

David Enoch

Hebrew University - The Philosophy Department and the Law School

Date Written: May 16, 2015

Abstract

How should deontological theories that prohibit actions of type K — such as intentionally killing an innocent person — deal with cases of uncertainty as to whether a particular action is of type K? Frank Jackson and Michael Smith, who raise this problem in their paper “Absolutist Moral Theories and Uncertainty” (2006), focus on a case where a skier is about to cause the death of ten innocent people — we don’t know for sure whether on purpose or not — by causing an avalanche; and we can only save the people by shooting the skier. One possible deontological attitude towards such uncertainty is what Jackson and Smith call the threshold view, according to which whether or not the deontological constraint applies depends on our degree of (justified) certainty meets a given threshold. Jackson and Smith argue against the threshold view that it leads to implausible paradoxical moral dilemmas in a special kind of case. In this response, we show that the threshold view can avoid these implausible moral dilemmas, as long as the relevant deontological constraint is grounded in individualistic patient-based considerations, such as what an individual person is entitled to object to.

Keywords: Deontology, Moral Uncertainty

Suggested Citation

Aboodi, Ron and Borer, Adi and Enoch, David, Deontology, Individualism, and Uncertainty: A Reply to Jackson and Smith (May 16, 2015). The Journal of Philosophy 105 (5) (2008)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2607077

Ron Aboodi

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Centre for Moral and Political Philosophy ( email )

The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus
Jerusalem, 9190501
Israel

Adi Borer

Hebrew University of Jerusalem ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905
Israel

David Enoch (Contact Author)

Hebrew University - The Philosophy Department and the Law School ( email )

Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus, IL 91905
Israel

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