The Delimitation Function of the Argument of Supererogation
摘要
The Argument of Supererogation is used when someone does not want to be blamed for not doing an action that others ask or demand of them in the name of morality. Chapter 2 outlines some common variants of this argument in everyday practice and in applied ethics. In all cases, the Argument of Supererogation has a delimitation function (Abgrenzungsfunktion) against moral claims. To make this function obvious, the argument is reconstructed as a syllogism. Sometimes, however, it seems indecent to refuse an action with the argument. This Indecency Problem has been seen in supererogation research but it has not been solved. Thus, there are two leading problems to be solved in this book: The Paradox of Supererogation of whether supererogations can exist (see Part I) and the Indecency Problem (see Chap. 11).