Sacrifice: Obligation vs. Supererogation
Hello again, Philosophers!
We have a bit of a special meeting this Friday! We'll be hosting the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Registry campus ambassador, Krysten Guerrero, who (after the discussion) will give a brief presentation about what the organization does and provide an opportunity to join the international registry for bone marrow and stem cell donations.
Before that, we'll have a discussion as per usual. We'll be talking about the ethical considerations of sacrifice, especially self-sacrifice. That is, we'd like to talk about the extent to which we feel sacrifice is obligatory–something we must do–and when it crosses into the realm of supererogation, where it is commendable but not required.
We’ll discuss whether moral systems should impose limits on how much one is expected to sacrifice and whether some actions, even when optional, carry greater moral worth.
Some questions to start with:
- Is there a line between fulfilling moral duties and going above and beyond?
- How demanding should our moral obligations be in cases where significant personal sacrifice is involved?
- Jade Hogerhuis
Reading...
Supererogation (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy): An explanation of the meaning and history of the concept of supererogation, categorizing actions that are praiseworthy but not obligatory.
Demandingness and Praiseworthiness: An exploration of the Demandingness Objection to many proposed moral obligations, using the Strong Beneficence Principle as an example of a potentially overly-demanding obligation.
The Demandingness Objection: A defense of utilitarianism in response to the Demandingness Objection. |
