Article
Consequentialism and Its Demands: The Role of Institutions
Acta Analytica
(2024)
Abstract
Consequentialism is often criticized as being overly demanding, and this overde- mandingness is seen as sufficient to reject it as a moral theory. This paper takes the plausibility and coherence of this objection—the Demandingness Objection—as a given. Our question, therefore, is how to respond to the Objection. We put forward a response relying on the framework of institutional consequentialism we introduced in previous work. On this view, institutions take over the consequentialist burden, whereas individuals, special occasions aside, are required to set up and maintain institutions. We first describe the Objection, then clarify the theory of institutional consequentialism and show how it responds to the Objection. In the remainder of the paper, we defend the view against potential challenges.
Keywords
- Consequentialism,
- Institutions,
- Demandingness,
- Publicity,
- Criterion of rightness,
- Decision procedure
Disciplines
Publication Date
2024
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-024-00595-2
Citation Information
Attila Tanyi and Andras Miklos. "Consequentialism and Its Demands: The Role of Institutions" Acta Analytica (2024) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/attila_tanyi/45/