Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts
Major
Philosophy
Date of Defense
4-17-2020
Graduate Advisor
Billy Dunaway
Committee
Eric Wiland
Jill Delston
Abstract
This paper is about the paradox of supererogation and why supererogation is morally optional. I argue that supererogation is morally optional because it is supported by both moral reasons and nonmoral reasons. I understand moral reasons to be agent-neutral reasons that apply to everybody while nonmoral reasons are agent-relative reasons that don’t apply to everybody. By understanding supererogation in this way, I have rejected the common assumption that what makes supererogation supererogatory is moral. Instead I argue that the source of supererogation is nonmoral. One important upshot to this is that unlike those who claim that the source of supererogation is moral, I do not have to deny the moral overridingness of moral reasons.
Recommended Citation
Yee, Justin B., "Supererogation and Moral Reasons" (2020). Theses. 395.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/395