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Duke University Dissertation Template The Benevolent Ideal Observer Theory By Michael John Patrick Campbell Department of Philosophy Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Supervisor ___________________________ Gopal Sreenivasan ___________________________ David Wong ___________________________ Jennifer Hawkins Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2018 ABSTRACT The Benevolent Ideal Observer Theory By Michael John Patrick Campbell Department of Philosophy Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Supervisor ___________________________ Gopal Sreenivasan ___________________________ David Wong ___________________________ Jennifer Hawkins An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2018 Copyright © Michael John Patrick Campbell 2018 Abstract This dissertation provides an answer to what I call the central question of moral philosophy: what, if anything, is moral value? The answer, I argue, is that moral value is the relational property of eliciting a suitable response from a properly informed, rational, benevolent and otherwise minimal spectator. I call this theory the response- dependent benevolent ideal observer theory or BIORD. Although the way in which I express and argue for BIORD is original and unique, the core of the theory is old. In chapter 1, I explore these historical roots. The notion that moral value depends, in some sense, upon the reactions of an idealised spectator stretches back at least to Adam Smith and, I argue, to his tutor Francis Hutcheson. I explore how a natural connection between ideal observers, benevolence and utilitarianism has often been assumed without being explicitly argued for. In chapter 2, I lay out certain crucial meta-theoretical assumptions that help to motivate BIORD. I argue against the methodology of conceptual analysis and in favour of a revisionary approach sometimes called ‘conceptual ethics’. I explore the theoretical aims that ought to guide the conceptual ethicists’ project before arguing in favour of a response-dependent metaethics, in contrast to other sentimentalist theories such as fitting-attitude accounts. The response-dependent schema states that an object is morally valuable if and only if a particular agent would have a particular reaction to it (in certain circumstances). iv In chapter 3, I argue that the agent that ought to fill the response-dependent schema is a properly informed, rational, benevolent and otherwise minimal spectator. I define benevolence as a final care directed towards the welfare of conscious creatures and thus argue in favour of welfarism: the view that welfare is the only essential moral value. In chapter 4, I discuss which of the benevolent observer’s reactions are best thought of as relevant, and which objects are best thought of as the bearers of both essential and non-essential moral value. I suggest that any attitude which lacks the property of being ‘truth-oriented’ is relevant. Arguments concerning the objects of value leads to a discussion of Parfit’s Repugnant Conclusion, which BIORD entails. I argue that we ought to embrace it. Lastly, I discuss the objects of non-essential value, showing how BIORD can capture some intuitions that value pluralists might otherwise use against it. Finally, in chapter 5, I discuss how accepting BIORD would impact our moral discourse, arguing in favour of a radical eliminativist proposal in which deontic language is abandoned in favour of comparative value-talk. I then discuss how BIORD can provide us with a theory of reasons. v Dedicated to the memory of Paul McClean, and to Pete, Irene, Neil and Eve. vi “…there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Hamlet “Benevolence is a world of itself – a world which mankind, as yet, have hardly begun to explore. We have, as it were, only skirted along its coasts for a few leagues, without penetrating the recesses, or gathering the riches of its vast interior.” – Horace Mann “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.” – Sheryl Crow vii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iv List of figures ........................................................................................................................... x A note on section numbers and historical references ..................................................... xi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xiii Chapter 1: Introduction – A fresh look at an old theory .................................................. 1 1.1. The central question .................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Historical precedents ................................................................................................ 5 1.2.1. Mill, Bentham and Sidgwick ............................................................................. 12 1.2.2. Hume, Smith and Hutcheson ........................................................................ 14 1.3. A roadmap .................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 2: The aims of moral theory and response-dependence ................................. 29 2.1. The central question .................................................................................................. 29 2.2. Theoretical aims ......................................................................................................... 41 2.3. Towards response-dependence ............................................................................... 55 2.4. Fitting attitudes .......................................................................................................... 61 2.5. Summary ..................................................................................................................... 65 Chapter 3: The ideal agent................................................................................................... 67 3.1. Properly informed ..................................................................................................... 68 3.1.1. Relevant knowledge ........................................................................................... 69 3.1.2. Omnipercipience ................................................................................................. 73 3.2. Rationality ................................................................................................................... 81 viii 3.3. Benevolence ................................................................................................................ 85 3.3.1. Benevolence as care vs. desire ........................................................................... 86 3.3.2. Final cares ............................................................................................................. 89 3.3.3. The circularity objection ..................................................................................... 94 3.3.4. Impartiality ........................................................................................................ 100 3.4. Essential value and response-dependence ........................................................... 102 3.4.1. Welfare as essentially valuable ....................................................................... 108 3.5. Minimalism ................................................................................................................ 128 Chapter 4: Reactions and the objects of value ............................................................... 134 4.1. Relevant responses ................................................................................................... 135 4.1.1. An aside on truth-oriented attitudes .......................................................... 138 4.2. Excluding additional non-truth-oriented attitudes ............................................ 147 4.3. Individuals, states of affairs and care ................................................................... 152 4.4. Non-essential moral value ...................................................................................... 173 4.5. Moving on from BIORD ........................................................................................... 178 Chapter 5: Moral discourse and the ideal observer ...................................................... 180 5.1. Eliminativism about moral discourse ................................................................... 180 5.2. Reasons ...................................................................................................................... 192 Chapter 6: Concluding remarks ....................................................................................... 204 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 205 Biography ............................................................................................................................. 216 ix List of figures
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