The geometry of desert / Shelly Kagan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kagan, Shelly

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Merit (Ethics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 656 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This title explores the hidden complexity of moral desert. Using graphs to illustrate and contrast alternative views, it carefully investigates the various ways in which the value of an outcome varies when people get (or fail to get) what they deserve.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""A Note to the Reader""; ""1. MORAL DESERT""; ""1.1 A Familiar Thought""; ""1.2 Some Familiar Questions""; ""1.3 Skepticism""; ""1.4 Intrinsic Value""; ""1.5 Unfamiliar Questions""; ""PART I: NONCOMPARATIVE DESERT""; ""2. FAULT FORFEITS FIRST""; ""2.1 The Basic View""; ""2.2 Pluralism""; ""2.3 Extending the Account""; ""2.4 Discount Rates and Multipliers""; ""3. DESERT GRAPHS""; ""3.1 Graphs""; ""3.2 Varying Slopes""; ""3.3 Rotation""; ""3.4 Peaks""; ""3.5 Multiple Peaks""; ""3.6 Comparing Sides""; ""3.7 Bell Motion""

""3.8 The Sym Mountain""""3.9 Shift""; ""4. SKYLINES""; ""4.1 The Occupation of the X Axis""; ""4.2 Constant Skylines""; ""4.3 The V Shaped Skyline""; ""4.4 Varieties of Desert""; ""4.5 Taking Stock""; ""PART II: COMPLICATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES""; ""5. OTHER SHAPES""; ""5.1 Plateaus""; ""5.2 Retributivism and Plateaus""; ""5.3 Simple Straight Lines""; ""5.4 Bent Lines""; ""5.5 Curved Desert""; ""5.6 Detailing Curved Desert""; ""5.7 Curved Plateaus""; ""6. PLACING PEAKS""; ""6.1 The Mapping Function""; ""6.2 Curved Mapping Functions""; ""6.3 Revisiting the Sym Mountain""

""6.4 Revisiting the V Shaped Skyline""""6.5 Further Constraints on the Skyline""; ""6.6 The Logical Limits of Bell Motion""; ""6.7 Disaggregation""; ""PART III: COMPARATIVE DESERT""; ""7. THE RATIO VIEW""; ""7.1 The Idea of Comparative Desert""; ""7.2 Problems for the Ratio View""; ""7.3 Optimism""; ""7.4 The Impossibility Defense""; ""7.5 Absolute Zero""; ""8. SIMILAR OFFENSE""; ""8.1 The Y Gap View""; ""8.2 Reconsidering the Cases""; ""8.3 More on the Y Gap Constraint""; ""8.4 Percentages""; ""8.5 A Fourth View""; ""9. GRAPHING COMPARATIVE DESERT""; ""9.1 Relative Advantage""

""9.2 Two Problems""""9.3 Graphing the X Gap View""; ""9.4 Motion Along the Y Axis""; ""9.5 Graphing the Y Gap View""; ""10. VARIATION""; ""10.1 Comparative Bell Motion""; ""10.2 Comparative Skylines""; ""10.3 Moral Significance Again""; ""10.4 Two More Possibilities""; ""10.5 One Size Fits All""; ""10.6 Sliding Up""; ""11. GROUPS""; ""11.1 Two Approaches""; ""11.2 Size""; ""11.3 Another Look""; ""11.4 Adjusting the Graphs""; ""11.5 Variable Steepness Reconsidered""; ""PART IV: DESERT""; ""12. DESERT TAKEN AS A WHOLE""; ""12.1 Partial Values""; ""12.2 Open Questions""

""12.3 Rough Comparability""""12.4 Another Series""; ""12.5 Other Values""; ""13. RESERVATIONS""; ""13.1 Deontology""; ""13.2 Methodology""; ""13.3 Ideology""; ""Notes""; ""References""; ""Index""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""; ""G""; ""H""; ""I""; ""K""; ""L""; ""M""; ""N""; ""O""; ""P""; ""R""; ""S""; ""T""; ""V""; ""W""; ""X""; ""Y""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 14, 2013).

ISBN:

0-19-023372-9

0-19-989560-0

OCLC:

827268098