Abstract
In this paper, I explore our common-sense thinking about the relation between moral value, moral merit, and well-being. Starting from Ross’s observation that welfarist axiologies ignore our intuitions about desert, I focus on axiologies that take moral merit and well-being to be independent determinants of value. I distinguish three ways in which these axiologies can be formulated, and I then consider their application to the issue of punishment. The objection that they recommend penalties in circumstances in which intuitively we would judge them to be unjustified is examined, and I suggest that it can be met by incorporating temporal information into the way in which value, well-being and moral merit are linked.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 5-27 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Ethical Perspectives |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2011 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Philosophy