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CONSEQUENTIALISM, TELEOLOGY, AND THE NEW FRIENDSHIP CRITIQUE 1
Author(s) -
CARD ROBERT F.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
pacific philosophical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1468-0114
pISSN - 0279-0750
DOI - 10.1111/j.0279-0750.2004.00192.x
Subject(s) - consequentialism , friendship , epistemology , criticism , teleology , philosophy , value (mathematics) , normative ethics , sociology , political science , law , social science , mathematics , statistics
A powerful objection to impersonal moral theories states that they cannot accommodate the good of friendship. This paper focuses on the problem as it applies to consequentialism and addresses the recent criticism that even the most sophisticated forms of consequentialism are incompatible with genuine friendship. I argue that this objection fails since those who pose this challenge either seriously oversimplify consequentialism's theory of value, misunderstand its theory of practical reason, or put too much weight on the good of friendship itself. I conclude by assessing a contemporary consequentialist response in order to suggest a workable conception of consequentialist friendship.