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T. M. Scanlon

Thomas Michael "Tim" Scanlon (/ˈskænlən/; born 1940), usually cited as T. M. Scanlon, is an American philosopher. At the time of his retirement in 2016, he was the Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity[1] in Harvard University's Department of Philosophy, where he had taught since 1984.[2][3] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018.[4]

T. M. Scanlon
Scanlon in 2018
Born
Thomas Michael Scanlon

(1940-06-28) June 28, 1940 (age 83)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Era21st-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy
Institutions
Main interests
Contractualism

Life and career edit

Scanlon was born on June 28, 1940, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1962; earned his PhD in philosophy from Harvard under Burton Dreben in 1968;[5] studied for a year at Oxford University on a Fulbright Scholarship; and returned to Princeton University, where he taught from 1966 until 1984.[2] He was made a MacArthur Fellow in 1993.[5]

His teaching in the department has included courses on theories of justice, equality, and recent ethical theory. His book, What We Owe to Each Other, was published by Harvard University Press in 1998; a collection of papers on political theory, The Difficulty of Tolerance, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2003.

Scanlon is the father-in-law of philosopher and African-American studies scholar Tommie Shelby.

Philosophical work edit

Scanlon's dissertation and some of his first papers were in mathematical logic, where his main concern was in proof theory, but he turned to ethics and political philosophy, where he developed a version of contractualism in the line of John Rawls, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Scanlon has also published important work on freedom of speech, equality, tolerance, foundations of contract law, human rights, conceptions of welfare, and theories of justice, as well as on foundational questions in moral theory.

Contractualism edit

Contractualism is a constructivist attempt at providing a unified account of the subject matter of a central part of morality which Scanlon calls "what we owe to each other." The normative domain of what we owe to each other is meant to encompass those duties to other people which we bear in virtue of their standing as rational creatures. A broader conception of morality includes whatever else we may owe to specific people, such as the special obligations we bear in relations with friends and family, or whatever else morality may require of us, such as the way in which we treat ourselves or nature. Scanlon believes that what we owe to each other, or what we could loosely call "the morality of right and wrong", is distinct from this broader conception of morality in that contractualism provides a unified account of its content.[6]

In this form of contractualism, judgements about right and wrong, unlike empirical judgements, are not theoretical claims about the nature of the spatiotemporal world but rather practical claims about what we have reason to do.[7] Further, they are a particularly important class of practical claims in that the judgement that an action is wrong is taken to provide reasons to not do that action which are most often considered to be decisive against competing reasons.[8] Following this point, Scanlon takes questions about the reason-giving force of moral judgements to be prior to questions about the subject matter of the morality of right and wrong.[9] More explicitly, he thinks that if we provide an account of the extraordinary reason-giving force of moral judgements then this account could largely form the basis for a characterisation of the subject matter of what we owe to each other.

Scanlon grounds the reason-giving force of judgements about right and wrong in "the positive value of a way of living with others".[10] A way of living with others which is typified by an ideal of mutual recognition between rational agents, where mutual recognition demands that moral agents acknowledge the value of human life and respond to this value in the right ways.

On the question of how ought we to value human, or rational, life, Scanlon argues that different valuable things require different ways of valuing. In contrast to teleological accounts of value, often to take something to be of value is not only to see reason to bring about a maximal amount of that thing.[11] This is especially true when considering the value of human life. When we value human life, he writes, we do not see this as a reason to create as much human life as we can. Rather, we tend to see reason to respect other human beings, to protect them from death and other forms of harm and, in general, to want their lives to go well. More important for Scanlon, to value rational life is to recognize the features which distinguish rational life from other valuable things, specifically, the ability of rational creatures to assess reasons and judgements, and to govern their lives in accordance with these assessments. Scanlon asserts that the proper response to the recognition of these distinctive features is to treat rational creatures in terms of principles which they could not reasonably reject.[12]

From this point, Scanlon's account of the value of rational life provides a focus around which his account of the reason-giving force of moral judgements dovetails quite neatly with a characterization of the method of reasoning which we use to arrive at judgements of right and wrong, a method, moreover, which seems to be phenomenologically plausible. The reason-giving force of moral judgements is grounded in an ideal of mutual recognition which requires treating others in accordance with principles that they could not reasonably reject. Because mutual recognition requires that these other people are also appropriately motivated, this entails Scanlon's formulation of wrongness: "An act is wrong if and only if any principle that permitted it would be one that could reasonably be rejected by people moved to find principles for the general regulation of behaviour that others, similarly motivated, could not reasonably reject".[13] An act is right, quite simply, if a principle permitting it could not reasonably be rejected in terms of this contractualist formulation.

Regarding how moral principles are derived from the contractualist formulation, when considering whether a principle can be rejected we must take into account the consequences, in general, of its being accepted, not only the consequences of the particular actions that it allows.[14] Because we cannot be sure about who will be affected by a principle, and how they will be affected, we must draw on our experience of life and consider the "generic reasons" which individuals are likely to have, as a result of their general circumstances, to reject a principle.[15] In order to determine whether a principle is reasonably rejectable, we must impartially weigh these generic reasons against each other,[16] and exercising our judgement, draw a conclusion about what the weight of reasons support.[17] Given the motivation of finding principles for the general regulation of society that no-one could reasonably reject, if the weight of reasons support a certain conclusion then it would be unreasonable to reject that conclusion.[18] Importantly, principles can only be rejected by individuals; aggregation of reasons across individuals is not allowed.[19] So if the generic reasons of an individual carry more weight than any other individual's generic reasons, then his generic reasons are (for the most part) decisive in determining principles.

The generic reasons which are open to consideration under the contractualist formulation are any reasons which we judge as relevant to reasonable rejectability. This requires that we exercise our judgement in determining whether such reasons would be suitable grounds for mutual recognition.[20] Therefore, that a principle would negatively affect a person's well-being is not the only kind of reason which may be brought against a principle. Other considerations, such as how a burden would be imposed by a principle, can serve as reasonable grounds for rejection.

While contractualism only provides an account of that central part of morality which deals with what we owe to each other, Scanlon writes that this part of morality is related to the broader realm of morality in complex ways. There is pressure for the morality of what we owe to each other to acknowledge the values included in the broader realm of morality insofar as principles which don't make room for these values could be reasonably rejected. In turn, these values must accommodate the dictates of what we owe to each other to the extent that they involve relations with others, who have separate moral standing.[21]

Reasons Fundamentalism edit

In his 2009 John Locke Lectures at Oxford, Scanlon argued in favor of what he calls "Reasons Fundamentalism."[22] This is "the thesis that there are irreducibly normative truths about reasons for action."[23] Scanlon refined and published this material in his book Being Realistic about Reasons.

In popular culture edit

Scanlon's What We Owe to Each Other is referenced several times in the American television series The Good Place, serving as one text used to instruct the protagonist Eleanor, who has apparently ended up in Heaven by mistake.[24][25] The phrase "What We Owe to Each Other" is used as the title of the sixth episode of the first season, and that episode features a summary of Scanlon's ideas, as does the season two finale. Scanlon's ideas play a prominent role in the series finale, in which Eleanor finally finishes reading Scanlon's book and uses the principles of contractualism to explain a crucial decision that she makes.

Selected works edit

Books edit

  • Scanlon, T. M. (1998). What we owe to each other. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674950894.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2003). The difficulty of tolerance: essays in political philosophy. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511615153.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2008). Moral dimensions: permissibility, meaning, blame. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674043145.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2014). Being realistic about reasons. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199678488.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2018). Why does inequality matter?. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198812692.

Chapters in books edit

  • Scanlon, T. M. (1977), "Due process", in Pennock, J. Roland; Chapman, John W. (eds.), Due process, Nomos Series no. 18, New York: New York University Press, pp. 93–125, ISBN 9780814765692. Preview.
  • Scanlon, Thomas M. (1977), "Liberty, contract, and contribution", in Dworkin, Gerald; Bermant, Gordon; Brown, Peter G. (eds.), Markets and morals, Washington New York: Hemisphere Pub. Corp. Distributed solely by Halsted Press, pp. 43–67, ISBN 9780470991695.
  • Scanlon, Thomas M. (1979), "Human rights as a neutral concern", in Brown, Peter; McLean, Douglas (eds.), Human rights and U.S. foreign policy: principles and applications, Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, pp. 83–92, ISBN 9780669028072.
  • Scanlon, Thomas M. (1981), "Ethics and the control of research", in Gaylin, Willard; Macklin, Ruth; Powledge, Tabitha M. (eds.), Violence and the politics of research, New York: Plenum Press, pp. 225–256, ISBN 9780306407895.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1982), "Contractualism and utilitarianism", in Sen, Amartya; Williams, Bernard (eds.), Utilitarianism and beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 103–128, ISBN 9780511611964.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1988), "The significance of choice", in Sen, Amartya; McMurrin, Sterling M. (eds.), The Tanner lectures on human values VIII, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, pp. 149–216, ISBN 9780874803020. Pdf.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1991), "The moral basis of interpersonal comparisons", in Elster, Jon; Roemer, John E. (eds.), Interpersonal comparisons of well-being, Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17–44, ISBN 9780521457224.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1997). The diversity of objections to inequality. The Lindley Lecture, 1996. Lawrence, Kansas: Dept. of Philosophy, University of Kansas. Pdf.
Reprinted as: Scanlon, T. M. (2000), "The diversity of objections to inequality", in Clayton, Matthew; Williams, Andrew (eds.), The ideal of equality, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Macmillan Press St. Martin's Press, pp. 41–59, ISBN 9780333686980.
Also available as: Scanlon, T. M. (1996). "La varietà delle obiezioni alla disegualianza". Filosofia e Questioni Pubbliche (Philosophy and Public Issues) (in Italian). 2 (2). Roma Luiss Management: 3–19.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1999), "Punishment and the rule of law", in Koh, Harold Hongju; Slye, Ronald (eds.), Deliberative democracy and human rights, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, pp. 257–271, ISBN 9780300081671.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2001), "Promises and contracts", in Benson, Peter (ed.), The theory of contract law: new essays, Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law Series, Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 86–117, ISBN 9780521041324.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2002), "Reasons and passions", in Buss, Sarah; Overton, Lee (eds.), Contours of agency: essays on themes from Harry Frankfurt, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, pp. 165–188, ISBN 9780262025133.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2004), "Reasons: a puzzling duality?", in Wallace, R. Jay; Pettit, Philip; Scheffler, Samuel; Smith, Michael (eds.), Reason and value: themes from the moral philosophy of Joseph Raz, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 231–246, OCLC 648260069.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2006), "Justice, responsibility, and the demands of equality", in Sypnowich, Christine (ed.), The egalitarian conscience: essays in honour of G.A. Cohen, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 70–87, ISBN 9780199281688.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2009), "Rights and interests", in Kanbur, Ravi; Basu, Kaushik (eds.), Arguments for a better world: essays in honor of Amartya Sen | Volume I: Ethics, welfare, and measurement, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 68–79, ISBN 9780199239115.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2011), "How I am not a Kantian", in Parfit, Derek; Scheffler, Samuel (eds.), On what matters (volume 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 116–139, ISBN 9781283160179.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2012), "The appeal and limits of constructivism", in Lenman, James; Shemmer, Yonatan (eds.), Constructivism in practical philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 226–242, ISBN 9780191631191.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (2013), "Interpreting blame", in Coates, D. Justin; Tognazzini, Neal A. (eds.), Blame: its nature and norms, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 84–100, ISBN 9780199860821.

Articles edit

  • Scanlon, Thomas (Winter 1972). "A theory of freedom of expression". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 1 (2). Wiley: 204–226. JSTOR 2264971.
  • Scanlon, Thomas (Summer 1975). "Thomson on privacy". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 4 (4). Wiley: 315–322. JSTOR 2265076.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (November 1975). "Preference and urgency". The Journal of Philosophy. 72 (19): 655–669. doi:10.2307/2024630. JSTOR 2024630.
  • Scanlon, Thomas (Autumn 1976). "Nozick on rights, liberty, and property". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 6 (2). Wiley: 3–25. JSTOR 2265059.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (1977). "Due process". Nomos. 18: 93–125. JSTOR 24219202.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (May 1977). "Rights, goals, and fairness". Erkenntnis. 11 (1): 81–95. doi:10.1007/BF00169845. JSTOR 20010534. S2CID 189888868.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (October 1986). "Equality of resources and equality of welfare: a forced marriage?" (PDF). Ethics. 97 (1): 111–118. doi:10.1086/292820. JSTOR 2381409. S2CID 170236973. Pdf.
  • Scanlon, Thomas (Summer 1990). "Promises and practices". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 19 (3). Wiley: 199–226. JSTOR 2265394.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (Spring 1992). "The aims and authority of moral theory". Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 12 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1093/ojls/12.1.1. JSTOR 764567.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (June 1995). "Moral theory: understanding and disagreement: Reviewed work: The Viability of Moral Theory by Allan Gibbard, Alasdair MacIntyre". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 55 (2): 343–356. doi:10.2307/2108551. JSTOR 2108551.
  • Scanlon, Thomas (Spring 1997). "The status of well-being". Michigan Quarterly Review. XXXVI (2). University of Michigan: 290–310. hdl:2027/spo.act2080.0036.210. See also Tanner lecture pdf.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (July 2000). "Intention and permissibility: T. M. Scanlon". Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume. 74 (1): 301–317. doi:10.1111/1467-8349.00073.
See also: Dancy, Jonathan (July 2000). "Intention and permissibility: Jonathan Dancy". Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume. 74 (1): 319–338. doi:10.1111/1467-8349.00074.
See also: Gauthier, David (January 2003). "Are we moral debtors?: Reviewed work: What We Owe to Each Other by T. M. Scanlon". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 66 (1): 162–168. doi:10.1111/j.1933-1592.2003.tb00250.x. JSTOR 20140521.
See also: Gibbard, Allan (January 2003). "Reasons to reject allowing: Reviewed work: What We Owe to Each Other by T. M. Scanlon" (PDF). Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 66 (1): 169–175. doi:10.1111/j.1933-1592.2003.tb00251.x. hdl:2027.42/73518. JSTOR 20140522.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (November 2003). "Metaphysics and morals". Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association. 77 (2): 7–22. doi:10.2307/3219738. JSTOR 3219738.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (December 2003). "Replies". Ratio. 16 (4): 424–439. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00231.x.
See also: O'Neill, Onora (December 2003). "Constructivism vs. contractualism". Ratio. 16 (4): 319–331. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00226.x.
See also: Wolff, Jonathan (December 2003). "Scanlon on well-being". Ratio. 16 (4): 332–345. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00227.x.
See also: Raz, Joseph (December 2003). "Numbers, with and without contractualism". Ratio. 16 (4): 346–367. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00228.x.
See also: Parfit, Derek (December 2003). "Justifiability to each person". Ratio. 16 (4): 368–390. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00229.x.
See also: Timmons, Mark (December 2003). "The limits of moral constructivism". Ratio. 16 (4): 391–423. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9329.2003.00230.x.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (May 2011). "Why not base free speech on autonomy or democracy?". Virginia Law Review. 97 (3). The Virginia Law Review Association via JSTOR: 541–548. JSTOR 41261520. Pdf.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (October 2011). "Forum: libertarianism and liberty". Boston Review. Boston Critic, Inc.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (June 2012). "Provocation: everyone is a philosopher!". Harvard Law Review Forum. 125. The Harvard Law Review Association: 228–235.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (Spring 2013). "Responsibility and the value of choice". Think. 12 (33): 9–16. doi:10.1017/S1477175612000280.
  • Scanlon, Thomas M. (June 2013). "Giving desert its due". Philosophical Explorations. 16 (2): 101–116. doi:10.1080/13869795.2013.787437. S2CID 96470140.
  • Scanlon, T. M. (June 2015). "Kamm on the disvalue of death". Journal of Medical Ethics. 41 (6): 490. doi:10.1136/medethics-2014-102037. PMID 25005111. S2CID 38143185.
See also: Kamm, Frances (June 2015). "Summary of Bioethical Prescriptions". Journal of Medical Ethics. 41 (6): 488–489. doi:10.1136/medethics-2014-102018. PMID 24797609. S2CID 33549534.

References edit

  1. ^ "The Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity is among the oldest endowed chairs at Harvard University, having been first established in 1789. Past holders of the chair include Josiah Royce, Gerge Herbert Palmer, William Ernest Hocking, and Roderick Firth." [1]
  2. ^ a b "Thomas M. Scanlon".
  3. ^ "Celebration of the Philosophy and Teaching of T.M. Scanlon".
  4. ^ "Election of New Members at the 2018 Spring Meeting | American Philosophical Society".
  5. ^ a b "Thomas M. Scanlon - MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  6. ^ Scanlon, T. M., 1998, What We Owe to Each Other, pp. 6–7
  7. ^ Scanlon 2
  8. ^ Scanlon 1
  9. ^ Scanlon 3
  10. ^ Scanlon 162
  11. ^ Scanlon 78–100
  12. ^ Scanlon 105–106
  13. ^ Scanlon 4
  14. ^ Scanlon 203–204
  15. ^ Scanlon 204–205
  16. ^ Scanlon 195
  17. ^ Scanlon 218
  18. ^ Scanlon 192
  19. ^ Scanlon 229–230
  20. ^ Scanlon 194
  21. ^ Scanlon 174
  22. ^ "The John Locke Lectures". www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  23. ^ Scanlon, T. M. (2014). "Being Realistic about Reasons - Oxford Scholarship". oxford.universitypressscholarship.com. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199678488.001.0001. ISBN 9780199678488. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  24. ^ Nussbaum, Emily. "Dystopia in 'The Good Place'". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  25. ^ Lim, Woojin. "Asking Philosopher T. M. Scanlon 'What We Owe to Each Other'". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

Sources edit

Interviews with Scanlon
  • 'The Kingdom of Ends on the Cheap' in Alex Voorhoeve Conversations on Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-921537-9
  • "Ethics of Blame"
  • An Interview with T. M. Scanlon by Yascha Mounk, 2012-07-07.
  • Interview with Fifteen Minutes Magazine, The Harvard Crimson. Asking Philosopher T. M. Scanlon ‘What We Owe to Each Other’

External links edit

  • The Department of Philosophy at Harvard
  • Contractualism at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Ashford E, Mulgan T

scanlon, thomas, michael, scanlon, born, 1940, usually, cited, american, philosopher, time, retirement, 2016, alford, professor, natural, religion, moral, philosophy, civil, polity, harvard, university, department, philosophy, where, taught, since, 1984, elect. Thomas Michael Tim Scanlon ˈ s k ae n l en born 1940 usually cited as T M Scanlon is an American philosopher At the time of his retirement in 2016 he was the Alford Professor of Natural Religion Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity 1 in Harvard University s Department of Philosophy where he had taught since 1984 2 3 He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018 4 T M ScanlonScanlon in 2018BornThomas Michael Scanlon 1940 06 28 June 28 1940 age 83 NationalityAmericanAlma materPrinceton UniversityHarvard UniversityEra21st century philosophyRegionWestern philosophySchoolAnalytic philosophyInstitutionsPrinceton UniversityHarvard UniversityMain interestsContractualism Contents 1 Life and career 2 Philosophical work 2 1 Contractualism 2 2 Reasons Fundamentalism 3 In popular culture 4 Selected works 4 1 Books 4 2 Chapters in books 4 3 Articles 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksLife and career editScanlon was born on June 28 1940 and grew up in Indianapolis Indiana He obtained his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1962 earned his PhD in philosophy from Harvard under Burton Dreben in 1968 5 studied for a year at Oxford University on a Fulbright Scholarship and returned to Princeton University where he taught from 1966 until 1984 2 He was made a MacArthur Fellow in 1993 5 His teaching in the department has included courses on theories of justice equality and recent ethical theory His book What We Owe to Each Other was published by Harvard University Press in 1998 a collection of papers on political theory The Difficulty of Tolerance was published by Cambridge University Press in 2003 Scanlon is the father in law of philosopher and African American studies scholar Tommie Shelby Philosophical work editScanlon s dissertation and some of his first papers were in mathematical logic where his main concern was in proof theory but he turned to ethics and political philosophy where he developed a version of contractualism in the line of John Rawls Immanuel Kant and Jean Jacques Rousseau Scanlon has also published important work on freedom of speech equality tolerance foundations of contract law human rights conceptions of welfare and theories of justice as well as on foundational questions in moral theory Contractualism edit Main article Contractualism Contractualism is a constructivist attempt at providing a unified account of the subject matter of a central part of morality which Scanlon calls what we owe to each other The normative domain of what we owe to each other is meant to encompass those duties to other people which we bear in virtue of their standing as rational creatures A broader conception of morality includes whatever else we may owe to specific people such as the special obligations we bear in relations with friends and family or whatever else morality may require of us such as the way in which we treat ourselves or nature Scanlon believes that what we owe to each other or what we could loosely call the morality of right and wrong is distinct from this broader conception of morality in that contractualism provides a unified account of its content 6 In this form of contractualism judgements about right and wrong unlike empirical judgements are not theoretical claims about the nature of the spatiotemporal world but rather practical claims about what we have reason to do 7 Further they are a particularly important class of practical claims in that the judgement that an action is wrong is taken to provide reasons to not do that action which are most often considered to be decisive against competing reasons 8 Following this point Scanlon takes questions about the reason giving force of moral judgements to be prior to questions about the subject matter of the morality of right and wrong 9 More explicitly he thinks that if we provide an account of the extraordinary reason giving force of moral judgements then this account could largely form the basis for a characterisation of the subject matter of what we owe to each other Scanlon grounds the reason giving force of judgements about right and wrong in the positive value of a way of living with others 10 A way of living with others which is typified by an ideal of mutual recognition between rational agents where mutual recognition demands that moral agents acknowledge the value of human life and respond to this value in the right ways On the question of how ought we to value human or rational life Scanlon argues that different valuable things require different ways of valuing In contrast to teleological accounts of value often to take something to be of value is not only to see reason to bring about a maximal amount of that thing 11 This is especially true when considering the value of human life When we value human life he writes we do not see this as a reason to create as much human life as we can Rather we tend to see reason to respect other human beings to protect them from death and other forms of harm and in general to want their lives to go well More important for Scanlon to value rational life is to recognize the features which distinguish rational life from other valuable things specifically the ability of rational creatures to assess reasons and judgements and to govern their lives in accordance with these assessments Scanlon asserts that the proper response to the recognition of these distinctive features is to treat rational creatures in terms of principles which they could not reasonably reject 12 From this point Scanlon s account of the value of rational life provides a focus around which his account of the reason giving force of moral judgements dovetails quite neatly with a characterization of the method of reasoning which we use to arrive at judgements of right and wrong a method moreover which seems to be phenomenologically plausible The reason giving force of moral judgements is grounded in an ideal of mutual recognition which requires treating others in accordance with principles that they could not reasonably reject Because mutual recognition requires that these other people are also appropriately motivated this entails Scanlon s formulation of wrongness An act is wrong if and only if any principle that permitted it would be one that could reasonably be rejected by people moved to find principles for the general regulation of behaviour that others similarly motivated could not reasonably reject 13 An act is right quite simply if a principle permitting it could not reasonably be rejected in terms of this contractualist formulation Regarding how moral principles are derived from the contractualist formulation when considering whether a principle can be rejected we must take into account the consequences in general of its being accepted not only the consequences of the particular actions that it allows 14 Because we cannot be sure about who will be affected by a principle and how they will be affected we must draw on our experience of life and consider the generic reasons which individuals are likely to have as a result of their general circumstances to reject a principle 15 In order to determine whether a principle is reasonably rejectable we must impartially weigh these generic reasons against each other 16 and exercising our judgement draw a conclusion about what the weight of reasons support 17 Given the motivation of finding principles for the general regulation of society that no one could reasonably reject if the weight of reasons support a certain conclusion then it would be unreasonable to reject that conclusion 18 Importantly principles can only be rejected by individuals aggregation of reasons across individuals is not allowed 19 So if the generic reasons of an individual carry more weight than any other individual s generic reasons then his generic reasons are for the most part decisive in determining principles The generic reasons which are open to consideration under the contractualist formulation are any reasons which we judge as relevant to reasonable rejectability This requires that we exercise our judgement in determining whether such reasons would be suitable grounds for mutual recognition 20 Therefore that a principle would negatively affect a person s well being is not the only kind of reason which may be brought against a principle Other considerations such as how a burden would be imposed by a principle can serve as reasonable grounds for rejection While contractualism only provides an account of that central part of morality which deals with what we owe to each other Scanlon writes that this part of morality is related to the broader realm of morality in complex ways There is pressure for the morality of what we owe to each other to acknowledge the values included in the broader realm of morality insofar as principles which don t make room for these values could be reasonably rejected In turn these values must accommodate the dictates of what we owe to each other to the extent that they involve relations with others who have separate moral standing 21 Reasons Fundamentalism edit In his 2009 John Locke Lectures at Oxford Scanlon argued in favor of what he calls Reasons Fundamentalism 22 This is the thesis that there are irreducibly normative truths about reasons for action 23 Scanlon refined and published this material in his book Being Realistic about Reasons In popular culture editScanlon s What We Owe to Each Other is referenced several times in the American television series The Good Place serving as one text used to instruct the protagonist Eleanor who has apparently ended up in Heaven by mistake 24 25 The phrase What We Owe to Each Other is used as the title of the sixth episode of the first season and that episode features a summary of Scanlon s ideas as does the season two finale Scanlon s ideas play a prominent role in the series finale in which Eleanor finally finishes reading Scanlon s book and uses the principles of contractualism to explain a crucial decision that she makes Selected works editBooks edit Scanlon T M 1998 What we owe to each other Cambridge Massachusetts Belknap Press of Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674950894 Scanlon T M 2003 The difficulty of tolerance essays in political philosophy Cambridge New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780511615153 Scanlon T M 2008 Moral dimensions permissibility meaning blame Cambridge Massachusetts Belknap Press of Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674043145 Scanlon T M 2014 Being realistic about reasons Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199678488 Scanlon T M 2018 Why does inequality matter Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 9780198812692 Chapters in books edit Scanlon T M 1977 Due process in Pennock J Roland Chapman John W eds Due process Nomos Series no 18 New York New York University Press pp 93 125 ISBN 9780814765692 Preview Scanlon Thomas M 1977 Liberty contract and contribution in Dworkin Gerald Bermant Gordon Brown Peter G eds Markets and morals Washington New York Hemisphere Pub Corp Distributed solely by Halsted Press pp 43 67 ISBN 9780470991695 Scanlon Thomas M 1979 Human rights as a neutral concern in Brown Peter McLean Douglas eds Human rights and U S foreign policy principles and applications Lexington Massachusetts Lexington Books pp 83 92 ISBN 9780669028072 Scanlon Thomas M 1981 Ethics and the control of research in Gaylin Willard Macklin Ruth Powledge Tabitha M eds Violence and the politics of research New York Plenum Press pp 225 256 ISBN 9780306407895 Scanlon T M 1982 Contractualism and utilitarianism in Sen Amartya Williams Bernard eds Utilitarianism and beyond Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 103 128 ISBN 9780511611964 Scanlon T M 1988 The significance of choice in Sen Amartya McMurrin Sterling M eds The Tanner lectures on human values VIII Salt Lake City University of Utah Press pp 149 216 ISBN 9780874803020 Pdf Scanlon T M 1991 The moral basis of interpersonal comparisons in Elster Jon Roemer John E eds Interpersonal comparisons of well being Cambridge England New York Cambridge University Press pp 17 44 ISBN 9780521457224 Scanlon T M 1997 The diversity of objections to inequality The Lindley Lecture 1996 Lawrence Kansas Dept of Philosophy University of Kansas Pdf Reprinted as Scanlon T M 2000 The diversity of objections to inequality in Clayton Matthew Williams Andrew eds The ideal of equality Houndmills Basingstoke Hampshire New York Macmillan Press St Martin s Press pp 41 59 ISBN 9780333686980 Also available as Scanlon T M 1996 La varieta delle obiezioni alla disegualianza Filosofia e Questioni Pubbliche Philosophy and Public Issues in Italian 2 2 Roma Luiss Management 3 19 dd dd Scanlon T M 1999 Punishment and the rule of law in Koh Harold Hongju Slye Ronald eds Deliberative democracy and human rights New Haven Connecticut Yale University Press pp 257 271 ISBN 9780300081671 Scanlon T M 2001 Promises and contracts in Benson Peter ed The theory of contract law new essays Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law Series Cambridge England New York Cambridge University Press pp 86 117 ISBN 9780521041324 Scanlon T M 2002 Reasons and passions in Buss Sarah Overton Lee eds Contours of agency essays on themes from Harry Frankfurt Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press pp 165 188 ISBN 9780262025133 Scanlon T M 2004 Reasons a puzzling duality in Wallace R Jay Pettit Philip Scheffler Samuel Smith Michael eds Reason and value themes from the moral philosophy of Joseph Raz New York Oxford University Press pp 231 246 OCLC 648260069 Scanlon T M 2006 Justice responsibility and the demands of equality in Sypnowich Christine ed The egalitarian conscience essays in honour of G A Cohen New York Oxford University Press pp 70 87 ISBN 9780199281688 Scanlon T M 2009 Rights and interests in Kanbur Ravi Basu Kaushik eds Arguments for a better world essays in honor of Amartya Sen Volume I Ethics welfare and measurement Oxford New York Oxford University Press pp 68 79 ISBN 9780199239115 Scanlon T M 2011 How I am not a Kantian in Parfit Derek Scheffler Samuel eds On what matters volume 2 Oxford Oxford University Press pp 116 139 ISBN 9781283160179 Scanlon T M 2012 The appeal and limits of constructivism in Lenman James Shemmer Yonatan eds Constructivism in practical philosophy Oxford Oxford University Press pp 226 242 ISBN 9780191631191 Scanlon T M 2013 Interpreting blame in Coates D Justin Tognazzini Neal A eds Blame its nature and norms Oxford New York Oxford University Press pp 84 100 ISBN 9780199860821 Articles edit Scanlon Thomas Winter 1972 A theory of freedom of expression Philosophy amp Public Affairs 1 2 Wiley 204 226 JSTOR 2264971 Scanlon Thomas Summer 1975 Thomson on privacy Philosophy amp Public Affairs 4 4 Wiley 315 322 JSTOR 2265076 Scanlon T M November 1975 Preference and urgency The Journal of Philosophy 72 19 655 669 doi 10 2307 2024630 JSTOR 2024630 Scanlon Thomas Autumn 1976 Nozick on rights liberty and property Philosophy amp Public Affairs 6 2 Wiley 3 25 JSTOR 2265059 Scanlon T M 1977 Due process Nomos 18 93 125 JSTOR 24219202 Scanlon T M May 1977 Rights goals and fairness Erkenntnis 11 1 81 95 doi 10 1007 BF00169845 JSTOR 20010534 S2CID 189888868 Scanlon T M October 1986 Equality of resources and equality of welfare a forced marriage PDF Ethics 97 1 111 118 doi 10 1086 292820 JSTOR 2381409 S2CID 170236973 Pdf Scanlon Thomas Summer 1990 Promises and practices Philosophy amp Public Affairs 19 3 Wiley 199 226 JSTOR 2265394 Scanlon T M Spring 1992 The aims and authority of moral theory Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 12 1 1 23 doi 10 1093 ojls 12 1 1 JSTOR 764567 Scanlon T M June 1995 Moral theory understanding and disagreement Reviewed work The Viability of Moral Theory by Allan Gibbard Alasdair MacIntyre Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 55 2 343 356 doi 10 2307 2108551 JSTOR 2108551 Scanlon Thomas Spring 1997 The status of well being Michigan Quarterly Review XXXVI 2 University of Michigan 290 310 hdl 2027 spo act2080 0036 210 See also Tanner lecture pdf Scanlon T M July 2000 Intention and permissibility T M Scanlon Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 74 1 301 317 doi 10 1111 1467 8349 00073 Pdf See also Dancy Jonathan July 2000 Intention and permissibility Jonathan Dancy Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 74 1 319 338 doi 10 1111 1467 8349 00074 dd Scanlon T M 2003 Individualism equality and rights University of Miami Law Review 58 1 University of Miami School of Law 359 368 Pdf Scanlon T M January 2003 Reply to Gauthier and Gibbard Precis of What We Owe to Each Other Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66 1 176 189 doi 10 1111 j 1933 1592 2003 tb00249 x JSTOR 20140523 See also Gauthier David January 2003 Are we moral debtors Reviewed work What We Owe to Each Other by T M Scanlon Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66 1 162 168 doi 10 1111 j 1933 1592 2003 tb00250 x JSTOR 20140521 See also Gibbard Allan January 2003 Reasons to reject allowing Reviewed work What We Owe to Each Other by T M Scanlon PDF Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66 1 169 175 doi 10 1111 j 1933 1592 2003 tb00251 x hdl 2027 42 73518 JSTOR 20140522 dd Scanlon T M November 2003 Metaphysics and morals Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 77 2 7 22 doi 10 2307 3219738 JSTOR 3219738 Scanlon T M December 2003 Replies Ratio 16 4 424 439 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00231 x See also O Neill Onora December 2003 Constructivism vs contractualism Ratio 16 4 319 331 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00226 x See also Wolff Jonathan December 2003 Scanlon on well being Ratio 16 4 332 345 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00227 x See also Raz Joseph December 2003 Numbers with and without contractualism Ratio 16 4 346 367 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00228 x See also Parfit Derek December 2003 Justifiability to each person Ratio 16 4 368 390 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00229 x See also Timmons Mark December 2003 The limits of moral constructivism Ratio 16 4 391 423 doi 10 1046 j 1467 9329 2003 00230 x dd Scanlon T M May 2011 Why not base free speech on autonomy or democracy Virginia Law Review 97 3 The Virginia Law Review Association via JSTOR 541 548 JSTOR 41261520 Pdf Scanlon T M October 2011 Forum libertarianism and liberty Boston Review Boston Critic Inc Scanlon T M June 2012 Provocation everyone is a philosopher Harvard Law Review Forum 125 The Harvard Law Review Association 228 235 Scanlon T M Spring 2013 Responsibility and the value of choice Think 12 33 9 16 doi 10 1017 S1477175612000280 Scanlon Thomas M June 2013 Giving desert its due Philosophical Explorations 16 2 101 116 doi 10 1080 13869795 2013 787437 S2CID 96470140 Scanlon T M June 2015 Kamm on the disvalue of death Journal of Medical Ethics 41 6 490 doi 10 1136 medethics 2014 102037 PMID 25005111 S2CID 38143185 See also Kamm Frances June 2015 Summary of Bioethical Prescriptions Journal of Medical Ethics 41 6 488 489 doi 10 1136 medethics 2014 102018 PMID 24797609 S2CID 33549534 dd References edit The Alford Professor of Natural Religion Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity is among the oldest endowed chairs at Harvard University having been first established in 1789 Past holders of the chair include Josiah Royce Gerge Herbert Palmer William Ernest Hocking and Roderick Firth 1 a b Thomas M Scanlon Celebration of the Philosophy and Teaching of T M Scanlon Election of New Members at the 2018 Spring Meeting American Philosophical Society a b Thomas M Scanlon MacArthur Foundation www macfound org Retrieved 2018 10 06 Scanlon T M 1998 What We Owe to Each Other pp 6 7 Scanlon 2 Scanlon 1 Scanlon 3 Scanlon 162 Scanlon 78 100 Scanlon 105 106 Scanlon 4 Scanlon 203 204 Scanlon 204 205 Scanlon 195 Scanlon 218 Scanlon 192 Scanlon 229 230 Scanlon 194 Scanlon 174 The John Locke Lectures www philosophy ox ac uk Retrieved 2021 01 10 Scanlon T M 2014 Being Realistic about Reasons Oxford Scholarship oxford universitypressscholarship com doi 10 1093 acprof oso 9780199678488 001 0001 ISBN 9780199678488 Retrieved 2021 01 10 Nussbaum Emily Dystopia in The Good Place The New Yorker Retrieved 5 February 2018 Lim Woojin Asking Philosopher T M Scanlon What We Owe to Each Other The Harvard Crimson Retrieved 11 October 2019 Sources editInterviews with Scanlon The Kingdom of Ends on the Cheap in Alex Voorhoeve Conversations on Ethics Oxford University Press 2009 ISBN 978 0 19 921537 9 Ethics of Blame An Interview with T M Scanlon by Yascha Mounk 2012 07 07 Interview with Fifteen Minutes Magazine The Harvard Crimson Asking Philosopher T M Scanlon What We Owe to Each Other External links editThe Department of Philosophy at Harvard Contractualism at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Ashford E Mulgan T Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title T M Scanlon amp oldid 1221952085, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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