10 Moral Paradoxes [Paperback]

Presenting ten diverse and original moral paradoxes, this cutting edge work of philosophical ethics makes a focused, concrete case for the centrality of paradoxes within morality.

• Explores what these paradoxes can teach us about morality and the human condition
• Considers a broad range of subjects, from familiar topics to rarely posed questions, among them Fortunate Misfortune , Beneficial Retirement and Preferring Not To Have Been Born
• Asks whether the existence of moral paradox is a good or a bad thing
• Presents analytic moral philosophy in a provocative, engaging and entertaining way; posing new questions, proposing possible solutions, and challenging the reader to wrestle with the paradoxes themselves

List of Figures viii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 Fortunate Misfortune 11

2 The Paradox of Beneficial Retirement 23

3 Two Paradoxes about Justice and the Severity of Punishment 33

4 Blackmail: The Solution 42

5 The Paradox of Non-Punishment 50

6 On Not Being Sorry about the Morally Bad 59

7 Choice-Egalitarianism and the Paradox of the Baseline 67

8 Morality and Moral Worth 77

9 The Paradox of Moral Complaint 90

10 Preferring Not to Have Been Born 100

11 A Meta-Paradox: Are Paradoxes Bad? 113

12 Reflections on Moral Paradox 122

Postscript: The Future and Moral Paradox 134

References 138

Index 142

This is an excellent book which I recommend wholeheartedly both as a source of beneficial thought experiments for the professional moral philosopher, and as a better stimulus for the student of moral philosophy than any thelcC