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On Matti Häyry’s “Exit Duty Generator”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2023

Karim Akerma*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar
*

Extract

Matti Häyry presents a new ethical theory that he calls “conflict-responsive need-based negative utilitarianism.”1 In this commentary, I present my critical observations on his main points against the more general background of utilitarianism and theories of value.

Type
Commentary
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

Notes

1. Häyry, M. Exit duty generator. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2024;32:115 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2. As regards Bentham, “When a man suffers, it is not always that he knows what it is he suffers by.” Bentham J. Chapter II: Of principles adverse to that of utility. In: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, XV; 1781; available at https://www.utilitarianism.com/jeremy-bentham/index.html#one (last accessed 7 February 2023).

3. Trying to find definitions of the term “suffering” within the discussions on NU proved more difficult than initially assumed. One reference is Contestabile B. A review of Toby Ord’s essay “Why I’m not a negative utilitarian”: “The term suffering includes all degrees and variations of negative hedonic states like pain, discontentment, despair, depression etc.”; available at https://www.socrethics.com/Folder3/Negative-Utilitarianism-Review.htm (last accessed 7 February 2023).

4. For more on this, see Akerma, K. Das moralische Gesetz des bestirnten Himmels. Kommunikation mit extraterrestrischer Intelligenz (ETI) als Topos praktischer Philosophie. In: Luutz, W., (ed.) Das, Andere ‘der Kommunikation. Theorien der Kommunikation. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag;1997:157–75Google Scholar.

5. See, for example, Taylor PW. The ethics of respect for nature. Environmental Ethics 3; 1981: 197–218; available at https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil308/Taylor.pdf (last accessed 7 February 2023).

6. See Akerma K. Seinsunwilligkeit vor dem Schleier gebürtlichen Nichtwissens—Von John Rawls zu Samuel Butler. Tabula Rasa Magazin; 2011 April 9; available at https://www.tabularasamagazin.de/seinsunwilligkeit-vor-dem-schleier-gebuertlichen-nichtwissens-von-john-rawls-zu-samuel-butler/ (last accessed 7 February 2023).

7. I take these terms from Cabrera, J. Crítica de la moral afirmativa. Barcelona: gedisa editorial; 1996:136 Google Scholar.