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How to Make Friends and Maximize Value

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2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Philosophy.
Consequentialism is traditionally seen as having a problem accommodating friendship. Having the attitudes that consequentialism requires, it is thought, makes the attitudes required for having friends difficult if not impossible. In chapter 1, I consider Peter Railton's version of this criticism specifically with regard to intimate relationships. He terms it the alienation problem and offers a solution: consequentialists need not be tied to any particular way of thinking about or making decisions; they ought instead to make sure that they would change their decision procedure if another way would produce more value. Unfortunately, this solution has three problems. First, it risks a psychological incoherence as the agents try to make sure another way of making decisions wouldn't maximize value while at the same time avoiding consequentialist assessments. Second, the sacrifices involved in having friends seem to be hard to justify on a consequentialist basis given global poverty. Last, without doing consequentialist assessments a consequentialist won't know what the right decision procedure is, and on this picture if a consequentialist does perform consequentialist assessments the consequentialist won't be able to access that right decision procedure. In order to present a rival picture to Railton's, in chapter 2 I present some setup. First, I consider a range of psychological dispositions and settle on the disposition to find salient to decision-making particular features of the world as the relevant disposition. Second, I develop a causal, expectation-based account of a certain kind of relationship that I take our friendships to generally fit. Third, I present a certain disposition, the disposition to follow through on the expectations one creates through the development of a relationship for the reason that the other person is one's friend. I end the chapter with a discussion of the decision procedure a person who had that disposition, disposition D, would follow. In Chapter 3, I argue that disposition D solves the criticisms I leveled against Railton in Chapter 1. I first argue that D solves both incoherence and alienation by acting directly for the friendship, but where that friendship is understood as a good-making feature of the world and so as a consequentialist consideration. Second, I argue that friendship can be justified on a consequentialist picture because of the psychological support, necessary for other consequentialist sacrifices, it provides. Last I argue that expectation-based dispositions will maximize value because our expectations track the value of the relationships. In Chapter 4, I generalize my conclusions. In particular, I first argue that the psychological picture I present and the dispositions on which it depends solves a problem that all moral theories face. Second, I argue that anyone who thinks consequences matter ought to think the reasons we have in virtue of being friends are all reasons to promote the value of friendship. I argue that this value promotion thesis is simpler and fits the way we understand friendship on a day-to-day basis better than its rivals.
Justin D'Arms, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Piers Turner, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Don Hubin, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
121 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, N. M. (2016). How to Make Friends and Maximize Value [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461096878

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Nathaniel. How to Make Friends and Maximize Value. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461096878.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Nathaniel. "How to Make Friends and Maximize Value." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461096878

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)