February 07, 2018
Two Genetic Arguments
Some people think this is a good argument against school vouchers: Vouchers Are Racist 1. Many the people who originally defended school vouchers decades ago did so because they wanted…
All posts in: Consequentialism
December 02, 2017
Tu Quoque: The Dictators Might Misuse You Objection to Against Democracy
A few times, political theorists—most recently Jeff Isaac at Indiana’s Ostrom Workshop—have raised a particular objection to Against Democracy. (I mention political theorists because I think it’s interesting that theorists,…
September 07, 2016
Ethicists statement on compensating bone marrow donors
A former student of mine, Doug Grant, founded a company called Hemeos. Hemeos was founded in the wake of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Flynn v. Holder….
March 18, 2016
A Dissenting View on Guns: Why Rights-Based Arguments Against Gun Control Fail
Bobby is a brilliant scientist. So brilliant, in fact, that he builds a functional atomic bomb in his garage. Of course, Bobby strictly adheres to the non-aggression principle, so he…
February 07, 2016
Morality and Market Process
I’m not sure others will find this argument persuasive. But one argument for the morality of markets goes like this: A. It is wrong to use something someone else values more….
September 05, 2015
Samaritanism and Duties
Singer’s famous example is taken to establish that some acts of Samaritanism are morally required. He writes, “if it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening,…