Ethics

"Pain, Dislike, and Experience" by Kahane

By Adam Kolber

Guy Kahane (Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics) has posted "Pain, Dislike, and Experience" (forthcoming, Utilitas) on his webpage.  Here is the abstract:

It is widely held that it is only contingent that the sensation of pain is disliked, and that

when pain is not disliked, it is not intrinsically bad. This conjunction of claims has often

been taken to support a subjectivist view of pain?s badness on which pain is bad simply

because it is the object of a negative attitude and not because of what it feels like. In this

paper, I argue that accepting this conjunction of claims does not commit us to this

subjectivist view. They are compatible with an objectivist view of pain?s badness, and

with thinking that this badness is due to its phenomenal quality. Indeed, I argue that

once the full range of options is in view, the most plausible account of pain is

incompatible with subjectivism about value.

Full post as published by Neuroethics and Law on March 04, 2008 (boomark / email).