Is Agent-Neutral Deontology Possible?

Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 12 (3):319-324 (2017)
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Abstract

It is commonly held that all deontological moral theories are agent-relative in the sense that they give each agent a special concern that she does not perform acts of a certain type rather than a general concern with the actions of all agents. Recently, Tom Dougherty has challenged this orthodoxy by arguing that agent-neutral deontology is possible. In this article I counter Dougherty's arguments and show that agent-neutral deontology is not possible.

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Matthew Hammerton
Singapore Management University

Citations of this work

Deontic Constraints are Maximizing Rules.Matthew Hammerton - 2020 - Journal of Value Inquiry 54 (4):571-588.
Relativized Rankings.Matthew Hammerton - 2020 - In Douglas W. Portmore (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Consequentialism. New York, USA: Oup Usa. pp. 46-66.
The Fundamental Divisions in Ethics.Matthew Hammerton - 2025 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 68 (2):318-341.

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References found in this work

Reasons and Persons.Derek Parfit - 1984 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
I Ought, Therefore I Can.Peter B. M. Vranas - 2007 - Philosophical Studies 136 (2):167-216.
Agent-neutral deontology.Tom Dougherty - 2013 - Philosophical Studies 163 (2):527-537.

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