Morality, Rules and Consequences: A Critical Reader by Brad Hooker (Editor), Dale E. Miller (Editor), Elinor Mason (Editor)

From the Publisher

What determines whether an action is right or wrong? One appealing idea is that a moral code ought to contain a number of rules that tell people how to behave and that are simple and few enough to be easily learned. Another appealing idea is that the consequences of actions matter, often more than anything else. Rule consequentialism tries to weave these two ideas into a general theory of morality. This theory holds that morally wrong actions are the ones forbidden by rules whose acceptance would maximize the overall good. "Morality, Rules, and Consequences: A Critical Reader" explores for students and researchers the relationship between consequentialist theory and moral rules. Most of the chapters focus on rule consequentialism or on the distinction between act and rule versions of consequentialism. Contributors, among them the leading philosophers in the discipline, suggest ways of assessing whether rule consequentialism could be a satisfactory moral theory. These essays, all of which are previously unpublished, provide students in moral philosophy with essential material and ask key questions on just what the criteria for an adequate moral theory might be.

Author Biography: Brad Hooker is professor of philosophy at the University of Reading. Elinor Mason is assistant professor of philosophy at Arizona State University. Dale E. Miller is assistant professor of philosophy at Old Dominion University.

What People Are Saying

Paul Kelly
These essays provide the best available survey of rule consequentialism; they are original and of a very high standard. This book will be a major resource for moral philosophers and scholars of consequentialist ethics for some time to come.
— Paul Kelly

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents