Abstract
In this article, I will apply the method of reflective equilibrium to a moral issue other than social justice. I will apply it to the question whether infanticide can be morally justified. A specific case, the infant Linda, will be my point of departure, and the case will be discussed in the terms of the reflective equilibrium method. When discussing this kind of moral problems, i.e. when human life and death are at stake, it becomes necessary to relate the judgements and moral principles to background theories, in this case theories about the nature and value of persons and religious beliefs.
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References
The judgements and arguments here presented are elaborated in works in applied ethics. See, e.g., Kohl (1978). The arguments of the head of the ward are found in Harris (1985) and Kuhse and Singer (1985). The arguments of the staff nurse can be found in Donogan (1977) and in Ramsey (1978).
The principles mentioned in this article can be related to a great number of background theories (Collste 1998). Here, I limit myself to some main traditions
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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Collste, G. (1998). Infanticide in Reflective Equilibrium?. In: van der Burg, W., van Willigenburg, T. (eds) Reflective Equilibrium. Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4972-3_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4972-3_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6087-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4972-3
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