Pinkert, Felix (2015) What if I cannot make a difference (and know it). Ethics, 125 (4). pp. 971-998. doi:10.1086/680909 ISSN 0014-1704.

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Abstract

When several agents together produce suboptimal outcomes, yet no individual could have made a difference for the better, act consequentialism counterintuitively judges that all involved agents act rightly. I address this problem by supplementing act consequentialism with a requirement of modal robustness: Agents not only ought to produce best consequences in the actual world, but they also ought to be such that they would act optimally in certain counterfactual scenarios. I interpret this modally robust act consequentialism as cct consequentialism plus a requirement of moral virtue, namely, to reliably act rightly and to act rightly for the right reasons.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Consequentialism (Ethics)
Journal or Publication Title:	Ethics
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
ISSN:	0014-1704
Official Date:	July 2015
Dates:	Date Event July 2015 Published
Volume:	125
Number:	4
Page Range:	pp. 971-998
DOI:	10.1086/680909
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	4 May 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access:	28 July 2016

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