{"title":"Evolution and Impartiality.","authors":"Guy Kahane","doi":"10.1086/673433","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lazari-Radek and Singer argue that evolutionary considerations can resolve Sidgwick's dualism of practical reason, because such considerations debunk moral views that give weight to self-interested or partial considerations, but cannot threaten the principle Universal Benevolence. I argue that <i>even</i> if we grant these claims, this appeal to evolution is ultimately self-defeating. Lazari-Radek and Singer face a dilemma. Either their evolutionary argument against partial morality succeeds, but then we need to also give up our conviction that suffering is bad; or there is a way to defend this conviction, but then their argument against partiality fails. Utilitarians, I suggest, should resist the temptation to appeal to evolutionary debunking arguments.</p>","PeriodicalId":48118,"journal":{"name":"Ethics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1086/673433","citationCount":"21","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ethics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1086/673433","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 21
Abstract
Lazari-Radek and Singer argue that evolutionary considerations can resolve Sidgwick's dualism of practical reason, because such considerations debunk moral views that give weight to self-interested or partial considerations, but cannot threaten the principle Universal Benevolence. I argue that even if we grant these claims, this appeal to evolution is ultimately self-defeating. Lazari-Radek and Singer face a dilemma. Either their evolutionary argument against partial morality succeeds, but then we need to also give up our conviction that suffering is bad; or there is a way to defend this conviction, but then their argument against partiality fails. Utilitarians, I suggest, should resist the temptation to appeal to evolutionary debunking arguments.
期刊介绍：
Ethics is a scholarly journal that covers a range of topics pertaining to moral, political, and legal philosophy. It includes articles from various intellectual perspectives, such as social and political theory, law, and economics. The journal presents new theories, applies theory to contemporary moral issues, and focuses on historical works that have significant implications for contemporary theory. In addition to major articles, Ethics also publishes critical discussions, symposia, review essays, and book reviews. Articles published in Ethics are indexed in several abstracting and indexing services, including Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (Print), Ulrichsweb (Online), J-Gate, HINARI, Clarivate Analytics, De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost, Elsevier BV, PubMed, ProQuest, and others.
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