A hybrid account of harm
A hybrid account of harm
When does a state of affairs constitute a harm to someone? Comparative accounts say that being worse off constitutes harm. The temporal version of the comparative account is seldom taken seriously, due to apparently fatal counterexamples. I defend the temporal version against these counterexamples, and show that it is in fact more plausible than the prominent counterfactual version of the account. Non-comparative accounts say that being badly off constitutes harm. However, neither the temporal comparative account nor the non-comparative account can correctly classify all harms. I argue that we should combine them into a hybrid account of harm. The hybrid account is extensionally adequate and presents a unified view on the nature of harm.
counterfactual comparative harm, harm, hybrid account, non-comparative harm, temporal comparative harm, well-being
Unruh, Charlotte
03d892f2-a946-4b8c-b421-3f77b91f88f9
Unruh, Charlotte
03d892f2-a946-4b8c-b421-3f77b91f88f9
Abstract
When does a state of affairs constitute a harm to someone? Comparative accounts say that being worse off constitutes harm. The temporal version of the comparative account is seldom taken seriously, due to apparently fatal counterexamples. I defend the temporal version against these counterexamples, and show that it is in fact more plausible than the prominent counterfactual version of the account. Non-comparative accounts say that being badly off constitutes harm. However, neither the temporal comparative account nor the non-comparative account can correctly classify all harms. I argue that we should combine them into a hybrid account of harm. The hybrid account is extensionally adequate and presents a unified view on the nature of harm.
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Unruh_A_Hybrid_Account_of_Harm_AM
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 25 February 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 March 2022
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Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
counterfactual comparative harm, harm, hybrid account, non-comparative harm, temporal comparative harm, well-being
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Local EPrints ID: 454985
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454985
ISSN: 0004-8402
PURE UUID: 733b9c62-c659-4bd8-8bcd-ca4d0e3e1b48
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Date deposited: 03 Mar 2022 17:35
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:10
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Author:
Charlotte Unruh
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