Measuring Impartial Beneficence: A Kantian Perspective on the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale

Review of Philosophy and Psychology 14 (3):989-1004 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

To capture genuine utilitarian tendencies, (Kahane et al., Psychological Review 125:131, 2018) developed the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale (OUS) based on two subscales, which measure the commitment to impartial beneficence and the willingness to cause harm for the greater good. In this article, I argue that the impartial beneficence subscale, which breaks ground with previous research on utilitarian moral psychology, does not distinctively measure utilitarian moral judgment. I argue that Kantian ethics captures the all-encompassing impartial concern for the well-being of all human beings. The Oxford Utilitarianism Scale draws, in fact, a point of division that places Kantian and utilitarian theories on the same track. I suggest that the impartial beneficence subscale needs to be significantly revised in order to capture distinctively utilitarian judgments. Additionally, I propose that psychological research should focus on exploring multiple sources of the phenomenon of impartial beneficence without categorizing it as exclusively utilitarian.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Towards a More Credible Principle of Beneficence.Prasasti Pandit - 2021 - Journal of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research 38 (3):407–422.
Liberal Impartiality and Just Distribution.Randy Lee Richards - 1996 - Dissertation, The University of Iowa
Impartiality, Fairness, and Beneficence.Garrett Cullity - 2004 - In The Moral Demands of Affluence. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press on Demand.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-01-07

Downloads
1,008 (#22,118)

6 months
241 (#11,871)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Emilian Mihailov
University of Bucharest

References found in this work

Animal Liberation.Peter Singer (ed.) - 1977 - Avon Books.
Practical Ethics.Peter Singer - 1979 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Susan J. Armstrong & Richard George Botzler.
Famine, Affluence, and Morality.Peter Singer - 1972 - Oxford University Press USA.
Famine, affluence, and morality.Peter Singer - 1972 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 1 (3):229-243.

View all 54 references / Add more references