Tenenbaum and Raffaman on vague projects, the Self-Torturer, and the sorites

Elson, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3013-8030 (2016) Tenenbaum and Raffaman on vague projects, the Self-Torturer, and the sorites. Ethics, 126 (2). pp. 474-488. ISSN 1539-297X doi: 10.1086/683533

Abstract/Summary

Sergio Tenenbaum and Diana Raffman contend that ‘vague projects’ motivate radical revisions to orthodox, utility-maximising rational choice theory. Their argument cannot succeed if such projects merely ground instances of the paradox of the sorites, or heap. Tenenbaum and Raffman are not blind to this, and argue that Warren Quinn’s Puzzle of the Self-Torturer does not rest on the sorites. I argue that their argument both fails to generalise to most vague projects, and is ineffective in the case of the Self-Torturer itself.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/39849
Identification Number/DOI	10.1086/683533
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Humanities > Philosophy
Publisher	University of Chicago Press
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