Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

Integrated Moral Agency and the Practical Phenomenon of Moral Diversity

Michael Moehler — 2021-09-07

The practical phenomenon of moral diversity is a central feature of many contemporary societies and poses a distinct problem to moral theory building. Because of its goal to settle the moral question fully and exclusively and/or to provide better understanding of moral disagreement, traditional first-order moral theory often does not provide sufficient guidance to address this phenomenon and moral agency in deeply morally diverse societies. In this article, I move beyond traditional first-order moral theorizing and, based on multilevel social contract theory (Moehler 2018, 2020a), develop a practically sound notion of moral agency for morally diverse societies. The interrelational and dynamic notion of integrated moral agency developed in this article demands that agents actively exercise their rational and affective capacities, are receptive to the capacities of others, and are aware of the type of moral interaction in which they engage with others. The notion of integrated moral agency helps agents to reconcile conflicting first-order moral directives and to maximally protect agents’ autonomy in morally diverse societies.

Group Membership or Identity?

Miriam Teschl — 2021-10-05

As part of an article symposium on Partha Dasgupta and Sanjeev Goyal’s “Narrow Identities” (2019, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics), Miriam Teschl reflects on the distinctive concept of identity liberal cosmopolitans have and how it may or may not be captured in economic models of identity choice.

The Paths to Narrow Identities

Jean-Paul Carvalho — 2021-08-30

As part of an article symposium on Partha Dasgupta and Sanjeev Goyal’s “Narrow Identities” (2019, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics), Jean-Paul Carvalho reflects on the concept of narrow identity and the ways of modelling its emergence.

Deepening and Widening Social Identity Analysis in Economics

John B. Davis — 2021-10-05

As part of an article symposium on Partha Dasgupta and Sanjeev Goyal’s “Narrow Identities” (2019, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics), John B. Davis reflects on the variety of social identities and the implications this variety has for social identity analysis.

Can One Both Contribute to and Benefit from Herd Immunity?

Lucie White — 2021-09-02

In a recent article, “Vaccine Refusal Is Not Free Riding”, Ethan Bradley and Mark Navin (2021) argue that vaccine refusal is not akin to free riding. Here, I defend one connection between vaccine refusal and free riding and suggest that, when viewed in conjunction with their other arguments, this might constitute a reason to mandate Covid-19 vaccination.

Review of Michel S. Zouboulakis’ The Varieties of Economic Rationality: From Adam Smith to Contemporary Behavioural and Evolutionary Economics. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014, 192 pp.

Yam Maayan — 2021-10-15