Imaginary Cases in Ethics

International Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (1):1-17 (2012)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

By “case,” I mean a proxy for some state of affairs, event, sequence of events, or other fact. A case may be as short as a phrase (“a promise to your dying grandfather”) or (in principle, at least) longer than War and Peace. A case may consist of words (as in the typical philosophical example) or have a more dramatic form, such as a movie, stage performance, or computer simulation. Imaginary cases plainly have an important role in contemporary ethics, especially in applied or practical ethics. This paper is a systematic critique of imaginary cases in ethics (what Kant would have called a “prolegomenon” to their use). There are two main parts. The first explains what it is to imagine a case and what limits there are to what can be imagined. The limits of imagination are, in general, determined by the purpose to which the case is to be put. The second part distinguishes nine uses of imaginary cases: rhetorical; probative (subdivided into counterexample, proof of possibility, and pattern-proving); and heuristic (subdivided into illustrative, experiment in theory, insight-sharpening, commitment-mapping, and exploring reasoning process). Some of these uses are (more or less) unobjectionable (whether the particular case succeeds or fails in its objective) but some require special care or outright avoidance. I give examples of how philosophers and other ethicists would be better off if they were more cautious in their use of imaginary cases (including some classic examples, such as Nozick’s book thruster and Thompson’s famous violinist). This paper is especially concerned with the use of imaginary cases in contemporary defenses of torture.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Comments on Michael Davis’s “Imaginary Cases in Ethics.Makoto Suzuki - 2012 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (1):39-48.
On the Uses and Disadvantages of the Ticking Bomb Case for Life.Matthew C. Altman - 2012 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (1):19-28.
Defusing Dangers of Imaginary Cases.Joseph Spino - 2012 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (1):29-37.
How Outlandish Can Imaginary Cases Be?Jakob Elster - 2011 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 28 (3):241-258.
Moral Particularism and the Role of Imaginary Cases: A Pragmatist Approach.Nate Jackson - 2016 - European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 8 (1):237-259.
Making exceptions.Henry Shue - 2009 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (3):307-322.
Filling out the picture: Wittgenstein on differences and alternatives. Bowell - 2009 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 17 (2):203-219.
Imaginary bodies and worlds.Kathleen Lennon - 2004 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 47 (2):107 – 122.
The Role of Imaginary Cases in Ethics.Jonathan Dancy - 1985 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 66 (1-2):141-153.
The analytic imaginary.Marguerite La Caze - 2002 - Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Don't look but think: Imaginary scenarios in Wittgenstein's later philosophy.David R. Cerbone - 1994 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 37 (2):159 – 183.
Who is afraid of imaginary objects?Gabriele Contessa - 2009 - In Nicholas Griffin & Dale Jacquette (eds.), Russell Vs. Meinong: The Legacy of "On Denoting". Routledge.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-11-01

Downloads
83 (#185,497)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Michael Davis
State University of New York at Buffalo

Citations of this work

How to (dis)solve the Gamer’s Dilemma.Erick Jose Ramirez - 2020 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (1):1-21.
Thought experiments in ethics.Georg Brun - 2018 - In Michael T. Stuart, Yiftach Fehige & James Robert Brown (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments. London: Routledge. pp. 195–210.
Empathy and the Limits of Thought Experiments.Erick Ramirez - 2017 - Metaphilosophy 48 (4):504-526.
The Last Man Argument Revisited.Martin Peterson & Per Sandin - 2013 - Journal of Value Inquiry 47 (1-2):121-133.
Moral Particularism and the Role of Imaginary Cases: A Pragmatist Approach.Nate Jackson - 2016 - European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 8 (1):237-259.

View all 16 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references