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Are we morally required to act in the interests of others? Does our worth as persons depend in any way on our valuing the good of others? These questions, illustrative of those addressed in this book, concern the relevance of other-interested considerations -- of facts about what is good or bad for others -- to the moral status of persons and their actions. Pursuing answers to such questions is not only interesting and important in its own right, but also yields valuable insights in to the nature of morality.
A distinguishing feature of the book is its unusually comprehensive treatment of the moral significance of other-interested considerations per se, of how these considerations are interrelated, and of where they should be located in more general moral theory. It will be of greatest interest to individuals with fairly well-developed philosophical interests and abilities -- to teachers and advanced students of moral philosophy in particular.
List of contents
I: Beneficence and Moral Requirements.- 1. Varieties of Moral Appraisal.- 2. Philosophical Dimensions of Other-Interest.- 3. Is Beneficence Morally Required?.- 4. Perfect Obligations, Imperfect Obligations, and Individual Moral Discretion.- 5. Imperfect Obligations and Disjunctive Acts.- 6. Imperfect Obligations: Some Alternative Views.- 7. Summary.- II: Beneficence and Supererogation.- 1. The Concept of Supererogation.- 2. Supererogation and Praiseworthiness.- 3. Beneficence, Supererogation, and the Limits of Morality.- 4. Summary.- III: Anti-Maleficence.- 1. From Easy Rescue to Limitless Requirements.- 2. Moral Presumptions and Their Defeaters.- 3. The Nature of Moral Rights: A Traditional View.- 4. Morally Significant Liberties.- 5. Summary.- IV: Welfare Rights.- 1. The Concept of a Welfare Right.- 2. The Existence of Welfare Rights: A Sampling of Views.- 3. Welfare Rights and Individual Sovereignty.- 4. Some Possible Misconceptions.- 5. Further Reflections on the Morality of Anti-Maleficence.- 6. Summary.- V: Virtue, Personal Worth, and the Interests of Others.- 1. Personal Worth and Moral Theory.- 2. The Aretaic and Deontic Theses.- 3. Appraising Persons and Appraising Traits.- 4. Other-Interested Virtues.- 5. Summary and Concluding Remarks.
