Lecture 7a - Global Warming and Individual Moral Obligations

What main question does Walter Sinnot-Armstrong discuss in his paper?

What is Sinnot-Armstrong inclined to say to his main question? Is he 100% sure about this opinion?

What strategies does Sinnot-Armstrong use to examine if his moral intuitions are correct?

Which principles fall into strategy 1 (i.e., are morally plausible and examined to see if they condemn the Sunday drive)?

1. Harm Principle

2. Indirect Harm Principle

3. Contribution Principle

4. Risk Principle

5. Virtue Principle

*all fail to show that Sunday drive is wrong

Which principles fall into strategy 2 (i.e., condemn the Sunday drive and are examined to see if they are true or not)?

1. Gas Principle

2. Group Principle

3. General Action Principle

4. Ideal Law Principle

*all principles are implausible, overly demanding, or philosophically flawed

Define the harm principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the harm principle is insufficient in condemning the Sunday drive?

What is a possible rebuttal to Sinnot-Armstrong’s argument as to why the harm principle is insufficient?

Define the indirect harm principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the indirect harm principle is insufficient in condemning the Sunday drive?

Define the contribution principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the contribution principle is insufficient in condemning the Sunday drive?

What is a rebuttal to Sinnot-Armstrong’s claim that the contribution principle is insufficient?

Define the virtue principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the virtue principle is insufficient in condemning the Sunday drive?

Because Sinnot-Armstrong thinks that the Sunday drive expresses desire for enjoyment, which is not clearly a vice.

Define the gas principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the gas principle is not true?

Sinnot-Armstrong argues that this principle is implausible because this would forbid ordinary activities like boiling water or breathing.

Define the risk principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the risk principle is not true?

Because Sinnot-Armstrong argues that our act does not create a meaningful or traceable risk to specific individuals.

Define the ideal law principle and why Sinnot-Armstrong thinks that this principle is limited?

Define the group principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the group principle is not true?

Because he thinks that membership in a harmful group does not automatically create individual responsibility. But, if it did, then many harmless individual acts would become wrongly prohibited.

ie. cashing a government check that contributes to a deficit—it is not clearly wrong if your action makes no difference

Define the general action principle.

Why does Sinnot-Armstrong think that the general action principle is not true?