Title: Morality, utilitarianism, and rights /
Authors: Brandt, Richard B.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press,
Year: 1992
Subjects: Ethics.; Social ethics.; Utilitarianism.
Abstract: Richard Brandt is one of the most eminent and influential of contemporary moral philosophers. His work has been concerned with how to justify what is good or right not by reliance on intuitions or theories about what moral words mean but by the explanation of moral psychology and the description of what it is to value something, or to think it immoral. His approach thus stands in marked contrast to the influential theories of John Rawls. The essays reprinted in this collection span a period of almost 30 years and include many classic pieces in metaethical and normative ethical theory. The collection is aimed at both those moral philosophers familiar with Brandt's work and at those philosophers who may be largely unfamiliar with his work. The latter group will be struck by the lucid unpretentious style and the cumulative weight of Brandt's contributions to topics that remain at the forefront of moral philosophy.
Contents: Moral philosophy and the analysis of language -- Rational desires -- The explanation of moral language -- Morality and its critics -- Rationality, egoism, and morality -- Some merits of one form of rule -- utilitarianism -- Fairness to indirect optimific theories in ethics -- Two concepts of utility -- The concept of a moral right and its function -- Utilitarianism and moral rights -- A utilitarian theory of excuses -- A motivational theory of excuses in the criminal law -- Traits of character : a conceptual analysis -- The structure of virtue -- The morality and rationality of suicide -- Utilitarianism and the rules of war -- Public policy and life and death decisions regarding defective newborns -- Utilitarianism and welfare legislation.