Abstract
Policy judgments are easier to come by the farther we are from our goals. If there are only two directions and we know which is forward, and there are limits to how fast we can go, no fine discrimination is needed. If aid to the poor is far too little, highway traffic far too fast, building codes far too lax, teachers’ salaries far too low, or the rights of defendants far too little observed, we know what we need to know to get moving. We can worry about how much is enough when we get close, if we ever do. Meanwhile we can push on.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 The Hastings Center
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schelling, T.C. (1981). Analytic Methods and the Ethics of Policy. In: Caplan, A.L., Callahan, D. (eds) Ethics in Hard Times. The Hastings Center Series in Ethics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4022-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4022-5_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4024-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4022-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive