Volume II: Rights, Duties, and Status (Oxford Ethics Series) - Hardcover

Kamm, F. M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195084594 ISBN 13: 9780195084597

Publisher: OUP USA, 1996

Synopsis

Continuing the examination of life and death that F.M. Kamm began in Morality, Mortality, Volume I, this second volume begins with a discussion of the questions of the moral (in)equivalence of killing and letting die, harming and not aiding, intending and foreseeing harm, and also focuses on the methodology used in analysing these questions. This discussion includes consideration of such problems as the effect of contextual interaction, agent regret, and conflicting measures of the relative stringency of acts. Part II offers an examination of the so-called Survival Lottery and Trolley Problem, and some other closely related dilemmatic situations, for the purpose of developing a principled account of when harming some to save others is permissable and impermissable. Part III is concerned with the further examination of the relation between restrictions on conduct and prerogatives not to make sacrifices, and the contrast between a victim-focused and agent-relative account of rights. Kamm attempts to find the relation between these topics and both the existence of entities with significant status and the existence of valuable states of affairs, forging a link between deontological and consequentialist theories.

About this title

Review

Frances Kamm's analytical prowess, her painstaking examination of concrete moral choices and fundamental moral concepts, and her ingenuity at crafting examples to illustrate subtle distinctions in evaluative judgements have earned her a considerable reputation. All of these qualities are richly displayed in this daunting, rewarding book ... Kamm's analyses are often inventive, her frequent digressions illuminate old problems in surprisingly revealing ways, and her plenteous examples make excellent grist for reflection. Nobody who cares about the issues it covers can ignore this book. (Eric Rakowski, Mind)

Taken as a whole, the three books are a prodigious achievement ... A review of this scope cannot hope to indicate the rich array of topics addressed in this book, or the subtlety and ingenuity of its arguments ... this one strikes very deep. (Times Literary Supplement)

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195084594
• ISBN 13: 9780195084597
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400