Ethical implications of reflective equilibrium: how actions influence moral status

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Simpson, L, 2024. Ethical implications of reflective equilibrium: how actions influence moral status. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

In this thesis I argue that if the method of reflective equilibrium is adopted, then we ought to accept that the moral status of human beings can fluctuate depending upon the moral actions they perform.

In the introduction I lay down the groundwork of my argument and explain what the method of reflective equilibrium is.

In chapter one, I define ‘moral status’ and examine its implications for moral obligations. I critique what I call the ‘common sense view’ of moral status (demonstrating that a philosophically informed account is required), discuss the notion that moral status comes in degrees, and make a crucial distinction between intrinsic and relational moral status that features prominently in the later chapters.

Chapter two discusses and rejects the egalitarian view that every human being has the very same moral status.

Chapters three, four and five discuss the most widely held view of moral status in some detail. This is the moral individualist view according to which a being’s intrinsic moral status should be based on its individual characteristics rather than its relation to anything else or membership in any group (e.g., its species membership). Chapter three focuses on Peter Singer’s view, and chapters four and five on James Rachels’s and Jeff McMahan’s. Although the term ‘moral individualism’ is most closely associated with Rachels and McMahan I make it clear that Singer is also a moral individualist.

Although I endorse much of what the moral individualists say, I maintain that there is a major criticism of the view that mandates a major revision of the extant versions of the view. In chapter six I outline this criticism, focussing on the so-called problem of marginal cases. The basic criticism is that the method of reflective equilibrium requires that moral individualists take into account our intuitions regarding just desert.

In chapter seven I elaborate on the themes of just desert, deservedness, and punishment, and consider our intuitions regarding these themes in more detail.

Finally, in chapter eight, I bring together the threads from the previous chapters to develop my own account of moral status, according to which, as advertised, the moral status of human beings can fluctuate depending upon the moral actions they perform.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Simpson, L.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Curtis, B. Thesis supervisor ECM3CURTIB https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8433-9201 Turnbull, N. Thesis supervisor EMS3TURNBNR UNSPECIFIED
Date:	2024
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	16 May 2025 15:36
Last Modified:	16 May 2025 15:36
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53597