“The Enlightenment dream is a good one. The idea that people should rationally appreciate their place in nature, assess threats and possibilities, and regulate their behavior in response is inspiring.” PeopleShouldIdeasDreamPossibilityBehaviorEnlightenmentAppreciateThreatResponse Author:Dale Jamieson
“We can use economic instruments to help realize our goals but economics does not tell us what our goals should be.” ShouldDoeHelpingUseGoalRealizingEconomicEconomicsInstruments Author:Dale Jamieson
“Sometimes I say philosophers should be at the table because they're the only people who know that they're not going to walk away with big money to support their research or to fund their crackpot solutions.” PeopleKnowsShouldSometimesBigsWalksSupportSolutionsResearchTablesPhilosopherFundCrackpots Author:Dale Jamieson
“The Consequentialist trinity is typically regarded in this way: Bentham is crude, Mill's writings are full of howlers and inconsistencies, and Sidgwick was too smart to fully embrace Consequentialism. All of these great traditions in moral philosophy express strands of our moral consciousness and they should all be treated as research programs rather than as fully determinate views that can be leveled by a counterexample or by a clever argument.” WayShouldWritingPhilosophyViewsConsciousnessMoralSmartResearchProgramArgumentTraditionEmbraceCleverTreatedCrudeMillsTrinityStrandsInconsistencyMoral PhilosophyConsequentialism Author:Dale Jamieson
“It's obvious that there are vast variety of consequentialist views, depending on what we think goodness consists in, what our notion of consequence is, and what level (or levels) of human action we think the principle should be applied.” ThinkingShouldHumansActionLevelsViewsPrinciplesGoodnessConsequenceNotionObviousVarietyHuman Actions Author:Dale Jamieson
“Critics of Consequentialism have often assumed that hedonism (or preference-satisfaction) must be the theory of the good, that the deontic principle must be maximizing, and that the principle should be applied to individual acts. Indeed, this version is often called "classical utilitarianism" and attributed to Bentham and sometimes even to Mill. Rather than a "classical" view it is a recent construction foisted on to the tradition.” ShouldSometimesIndividualViewsPrinciplesTheoryTraditionCriticsSatisfactionVersionsConstructionPreferenceMillsHedonismUtilitarianismMaximizingConsequentialism Author:Dale Jamieson
“In the face of the collective action problems that are at the heart of the environmental crisis, consequentialists should seek to inculcate the "green virtues" which includes the virtue of cooperativeness. This would not bring about the best possible world but it would set us on the path of making it better.” WorldShouldHeartProblemActionFacesVirtuePathCrisisGreenEnvironmentalCollectivesCollective ActionEnvironmental Crisis Author:Dale Jamieson
