A Dilemma for Neo-Aristotelian Supererogation

Ethics 128 (1):199-211 (2017)
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Abstract

It has recently been argued that virtue ethics cannot accommodate the possibility of supererogation. In response, Rebecca Stangl proposes a neo-Aristotelian account of supererogation that, she argues, generates plausible verdicts, while also being compatible with the doctrine of the mean. I argue that Stangl’s response is unsuccessful. First, I demonstrate that the proposal in its current form is problematically indeterminate, meaning that we cannot know what verdicts would be produced in response to classic examples. Second, I argue that anyone attempting to develop the account faces a dilemma, and that both options for responding to this dilemma generate problematic results.

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Alan T. Wilson
University of Bristol

Citations of this work

An Excess of Excellence: Aristotelian Supererogation and the Degrees of Virtue.Maria Silvia Vaccarezza - 2019 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 27 (1):1-11.

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References found in this work

Saints and heroes.J. O. Urmson - 1958 - In Abraham Irving Melden (ed.), Essays in moral philosophy. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Neo-Aristotelian Supererogation.Rebecca Stangl - 2016 - Ethics 126 (2):339-365.
From Virtue to Decency.Johan Brännmark - 2006 - Metaphilosophy 37 (5):589-604.

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