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Utilitarianism directs us to act in ways that impartially maximize welfare or utility or at least aim to do that. The two authors debate various forms of this longstanding ethical theory, arguing for very different conclusions, in a way that is sure to leave readers with new views of their own moral thoughts and lives.
List of contents
Foreword by Roger Crisp I.
Against Utilitarianism 1. Utilitarianism and its Discontents 2. Goodness 3. Welfare 4. Repugnant Conclusions 5. Intuitions 6. Cluelessness 7. Cluelessness and the Climate 8. Beyond Utilitarianism
II. For Utilitarianism 1. Introduction 2. Total or Person-Affecting Utilitarianism? 3. Philosophy of Swine 4. Cluelessness 5. Reasons or Requirements? 6. Demandingness 7. The Alienation Objection 8. The 'Harming to Help' Objection 9. Conclusion
III. Reply to Bramble IV. Response to Lenman Further Reading References.
About the author
Ben Bramble is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the Australian National University and a Mission Specialist at ANU's Institute for Space. He is the author of
The Passing of Momentary Well-Being (Routledge, 2018),
Pandemic Ethics (2020), and numerous articles including "The Defective Character Solution to the Non-Identity Problem" (2021).
James Lenman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. He has published many articles, mostly on metaethics and normative ethics, and a book,
The Possibility of Moral Community (2024).
Roger Crisp is Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University.
Summary
Utilitarianism directs us to act in ways that impartially maximize welfare or utility or at least aim to do that. The two authors debate various forms of this longstanding ethical theory, arguing for very different conclusions, in a way that is sure to leave readers with new views of their own moral thoughts and lives.
