Brad Hooker
Brad Hooker (born 1957) is a British American philosopher who specialises in moral philosophy. He is a Professor at the University of Reading and is best known for his work defending rule-consequentialism (often treated as being synonymous with rule utilitarianism).
His book Ideal Code, Real World[1] received a number of favourable reviews from high profile philosophers. Derek Parfit, for example, wrote: "This book seems to me the best statement and defence, so far, of one of the most important moral theories."[2]
Brad Hooker's rule-consequentialism
One of the most common objections to rule-consequentialism is that it is incoherent, because it is based on the consequentialist principle that what we should be concerned with is maximising the good, but then it tells us not to act to maximise the good, but to follow rules (even in cases where we know that breaking the rule could produce better results).
Brad Hooker avoided this objection by not basing his form of rule-consequentialism on the ideal of maximising the good. He writes:
"…the best argument for rule-consequentialism is not that it derives from an overarching commitment to maximise the good. The best argument for rule-consequentialism is that it does a better job than its rivals of matching and tying together our moral convictions, as well as offering us help with our moral disagreements and uncertainties."[3]
References
- ↑ Brad Hooker, Ideal Code, Real World, Oxford University Press, 2000, new edition 2002
- ↑ Brad Hooker, Ideal Code, Real World, Oxford University Press, new edition 2002, back cover.
- ↑ Brad Hooker, Ideal Code, Real World, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 101.
External links
- Brad Hooker's entry on rule consequentialism in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
- Brad Hooker's discussion of Kant's ethics in Richmond Journal of Philosophy (2002):
- Julia Driver's review of Hooker's Ideal Code, Real World:
- A podcast of Brad Hooker discussing rule consequentialism:
|