The Value of Robustness: Promotion or Protection?
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Benjamin Ferguson
Abstract
Philip Pettit has argued that the goods of attachment, virtue, and respect are robust goods in the sense that they require both the actual provision of certain benefits and the modally robust provision of these benefits. He also claims that we value the robustness of these goods because it diminishes our vulnerability to others. I question whether robustness really reduces vulnerability and argue that even if it does, vulnerability reduction is not the reason we value robustness. In place of Pettit’s account, I defend a promotional account of the value of robustness. I argue that we value robustness because it increases the probability we will enjoy a certain kind of benefit.
Acknowledgements
Parts of this paper were presented at the University of St. Gallen. I thank those present for their comments. I also thank Vuko Andrić, Susanne Burri, Sebastian Köhler, and Philip Pettit for helpful suggestions.
References
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© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to the Special Issue on Philip Pettit’s The Robust Demands of the Good
- The Value of Robustness: Promotion or Protection?
- The Robust Demands of the Right
- The Robust Demands of Oppression Problematizing Pettit’s Account of Attachments
- Robust Harms
- Pettit on Love and Its Value: A Critical Assessment
- Defending The Robust Demands of the Good
- Articles
- Arendt and the Legitimate Expectation for Hospitality and Membership Today
- The Difference Principle, Capitalism, and Property-Owning Democracy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to the Special Issue on Philip Pettit’s The Robust Demands of the Good
- The Value of Robustness: Promotion or Protection?
- The Robust Demands of the Right
- The Robust Demands of Oppression Problematizing Pettit’s Account of Attachments
- Robust Harms
- Pettit on Love and Its Value: A Critical Assessment
- Defending The Robust Demands of the Good
- Articles
- Arendt and the Legitimate Expectation for Hospitality and Membership Today
- The Difference Principle, Capitalism, and Property-Owning Democracy
