HPPE: Philosophy Matters - "How to get away with bad behavior by using an excuse." | CHESS Cup 10 Points

In this paper, I focus on the views of the late Banks McDowell (1930-2001) who wrote extensively about the role of excuses in different ethical contexts. In the first part of the paper, I begin by discussing what McDowell means by the term excuse. After that I discuss ten different excuses McDowell identifies, and I develop the (obvious) logical structure of each excuse. In the second part of the paper, I raise a question about how the notion of a "desert base" (developed by Prof. Fred Feldman) may function in conjunction when an excuse is used to insulate someone's bad behavior. I attempt to develop the view that an excuse, in some cases, might help determine what someone deserves for their bad behavior. Unfortunately, I conclude that while it may be useful and sometimes easy to identify an excuse, using a "desert base" to decide what the bad behavior deserves—even in light of an excuse—is a more difficult and elusive project.

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