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Informationen zum Autor Saul Smilansky is a professor in the department of philosophy at the University of Haifa, Israel. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book, Free Will and Illusion (2000) and has published articles in many of the leading philosophical journals. Klappentext * If a severe misfortune makes your life better, was it unfortunate?* Could it be that 50% of competent medical doctors ought promptly to retire?* Might a justice system threaten with unjust punishment, to avert the need for punishment?* Could things become too good, morally?* Can terrorists morally complain if innocent people they care about are harmed?The importance of paradox in the study of philosophy, from metaphysics to logic, is evident from the abundant literature on the subject. But until now, very little critical study of paradox within ethics has been available.The first of its kind, this cutting edge work of philosophical ethics makes a powerful case for the centrality of moral paradox. Presenting ten diverse and original moral paradoxes, the book challenges some of our deepest moral views. This innovative volume also asks whether the existence of moral paradox is damaging or beneficial, and explores more generally what paradoxicality can teach us about morality and life. Concise and provocative, 10 Moral Paradoxes presents analytic moral philosophy in an engaging way; posing new questions, proposing possible solutions, and challenging the reader to wrestle with the paradoxes. Zusammenfassung Presenting ten diverse and original moral paradoxes, this cutting edge work of philosophical ethics makes a focused, concrete case for the centrality of paradoxes within morality. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Figures viii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Fortunate Misfortune 11 2 The Paradox of Beneficial Retirement 23 3 Two Paradoxes about Justice and the Severity of Punishment 33 4 Blackmail: The Solution 42 5 The Paradox of Non-Punishment 50 6 On Not Being Sorry about the Morally Bad 59 7 Choice-Egalitarianism and the Paradox of the Baseline 67 8 Morality and Moral Worth 77 9 The Paradox of Moral Complaint 90 10 Preferring Not to Have Been Born 100 11 A Meta-Paradox: Are Paradoxes Bad? 113 12 Reflections on Moral Paradox 122 Postscript: The Future and Moral Paradox 134 References 138 Index 142 ...
