A Defence of weighted lotteries in life saving cases
A Defence of weighted lotteries in life saving cases
The three most common responses to Taurek’s ‘numbers problem’ are saving the greater number, equal chance lotteries and weighted lotteries. Weighted lotteries have perhaps received the least support, having been criticized by Scanlon What We Owe to Each Other (1998) and Hirose ‘Fairness in Life and Death Cases’ (2007). This article considers these objections in turn, and argues that they do not succeed in refuting the fairness of a weighted lottery, which remains a potential solution to cases of conflict. Moreover, it shows how these responses actually lead to a new argument for weighted lotteries, appealing to fairness and Pareto-optimality.
279-290
Saunders, Ben
aed7ba9f-f519-4bbf-a554-db25b684037d
June 2009
Saunders, Ben
aed7ba9f-f519-4bbf-a554-db25b684037d
Saunders, Ben
(2009)
A Defence of weighted lotteries in life saving cases.
Ethical Theory & Moral Practice, 12 (3), .
(doi:10.1007/s10677-009-9157-7).
Abstract
The three most common responses to Taurek’s ‘numbers problem’ are saving the greater number, equal chance lotteries and weighted lotteries. Weighted lotteries have perhaps received the least support, having been criticized by Scanlon What We Owe to Each Other (1998) and Hirose ‘Fairness in Life and Death Cases’ (2007). This article considers these objections in turn, and argues that they do not succeed in refuting the fairness of a weighted lottery, which remains a potential solution to cases of conflict. Moreover, it shows how these responses actually lead to a new argument for weighted lotteries, appealing to fairness and Pareto-optimality.
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Published date: June 2009
Organisations:
Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences
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Local EPrints ID: 370361
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/370361
ISSN: 1386-2820
PURE UUID: 08d2001b-cde1-478b-8d5a-c02bcc74da4a
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Date deposited: 22 Oct 2014 11:59
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:50
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