Agent-relative consequentialism and collective self-defeat

• Main Author: HAMMERTON, Matthew
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: agent-relative consequentialism; agent-relative value; consequentializing; direct collective self-defeat; Ethics and Political Philosophy; Personality and Social Contexts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3200; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4457/viewcontent/DCSD__Agent_Relative_Consequentialism.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Andrew Forcehimes and Luke Semrau argue that agent-relative consequentialism is implausible because in some circumstances it classes an act as impermissible yet holds that the outcome of all agents performing that impermissible act is preferable. I argue that their problem is closely related to Derek Parfit's problem of ‘direct collective self-defeat’ and show how Parfit's plausible solution to his problem can be adapted to solve their problem.