2024/04/26 by Benedict Rumbold
Arts and Humanities · Neuroscience · #Free Will and Agency #Philosophical Ethics and Theory #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0953820824000037
openalex publication_date 2024/04/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract Can we formulate a moral theory that captures the moral significance of patterns of group behaviour we cannot affect through our own action while at the same time avoiding the so-called ‘Ideal Worlds’ objection? In a recent article, Caleb Perl has argued that we can. Specifically, Perl claims that one view that does so is his Patterned View: roughly, you ought to act only in accordance with that set of sufficiently general rules that has optimal moral value (Perl 2021: 98). The Patterned View undoubtedly constitutes a welcome contribution to our existing set of moral theories. However, does it avoid the Ideal Worlds objection? In this article, I argue ‘no’.