What We Owe to Each Other
T. M. Scanlon · 1998 CE
Excerpt
“Scanlon grounds obligation in principles that no one could reasonably reject, offered to each person rather than adopted by a chooser on their behalf. (paraphrase of the 1998 book)”
Why the atlas keeps it
Twenty-five years in the making and out in 1998. Scanlon argues that what we owe each other is that no one could reasonably reject the principles by which we are all to be governed, which grounds obligation in interpersonal reasons rather than in a chooser maximising an objective. The excerpt below paraphrases the argument rather than quoting the book.
Terms this text reaches for
Ranked by the codex search index against the summary above, not hand-picked.
Reasonable rejectability
philosophyThe standard that a principle is unacceptable if someone could reasonably refuse to live under it.
No-self
philosophyThe Buddhist analysis denying that a person has a fixed, independent essence.
Care ethics
ethicsObligations arise inside relationships, are partial, and resist general principles.
Outer alignment
alignmentMaking sure the training objective itself encodes what was actually intended.
Speciesism
ethicsTreating an entity's species membership as the reason for its moral consideration.
Veil of ignorance
philosophyA device for choosing principles without knowing which position in society you will occupy.