IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/utilit/v19y2007i02p160-183_00.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Utilitarians Should Be Virtue Theorists

Author

Listed:
  • JAMIESON, DALE

Abstract

The contrast typically made between utilitarianism and virtue theory is overdrawn. Utilitarianism is a universal emulator: it implies that we should lie, cheat, steal, even appropriate Aristotle, when that is what brings about the best outcomes. In some cases and in some worlds it is best for us to focus as precisely as possible on individual acts. In other cases and worlds it is best for us to be concerned with character traits. Global environmental change leads to concerns about character because the best results will be produced by generally uncoupling my behavior from that of others. Thus, in this case and in this world, utilitarians should be virtue theorists.

Suggested Citation

  • Jamieson, Dale, 2007. "When Utilitarians Should Be Virtue Theorists," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 160-183, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:utilit:v:19:y:2007:i:02:p:160-183_00
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0953820807002452/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aurélie Méjean & Antonin Pottier & Marc Fleurbaey & Stéphane Zuber, 2020. "Catastrophic climate change, population ethics and intergenerational equity," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 873-890, November.
    2. Lamia Berrah & Vincent Cliville & Damien Trentesaux & Claude Chapel, 2021. "Industrial Performance: An Evolution Incorporating Ethics in the Context of Industry 4.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Michelfelder, Diane P., 2018. "Risk, disequilibrium, and virtue," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 32-38.
    4. Stephanie Collins, 2023. "Climate obligations and social norms," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 22(2), pages 103-125, May.
    5. Yoko Mochizuki & Audrey Bryan, 2015. "Climate Change Education in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development: Rationale and Principles," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 9(1), pages 4-26, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:utilit:v:19:y:2007:i:02:p:160-183_00. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/uti .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.