Date of Graduation
5-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Philosophy
Advisor/Mentor
Lee, Richard
Committee Member/Reader
Herold, Warren
Committee Member/Second Reader
Moon, Zola
Committee Member/Third Reader
Harriss, Edmund
Abstract
Collective action problems are a unique family of puzzles in ethics about what people do together. These puzzles pervade our modern and globalized world. In collective harms, individual actions lead to a serious moral wrong; yet, the individual actions themselves do not seem to be moral wrongs. In collective benefits, individuals fail to bring about serious moral good; yet, individual actions do not seem to be morally wrong. In this paper, I will explore three different ways of grounding reasons why we ought not participate in the production of collective harms (or, refrain from producing a collective benefit). I argue that consequentialism fails to ground these reasons because it has problems in moral mathematics. I argue that deontological theories also fail to ground these reasons, because of problems with group agency. Finally, I conclude that contract theories provide the best way to make sense of these problems, and ground reasons why we ought not (or ought) to participate in the creation of collective harms (or benefits).
Citation
Stolt, T. W. (2016). Contract Ethics and the Problem of Collective Action. Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/philuht/1
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