Justifying Violations

Abstract

Abstract As pointed out in chapter 5, moral rules have justified exceptions. In the two previous chapters it was shown that the attitude of all impartial rational persons toward the justified moral rules includes an except clause. In this chapter I shall examine this moral attitude in greater detail, making clear what violations may be punished, what is meant by the except clause, and providing an explicit account of the morally relevant features that determine what counts as the same violation. I shall then explain how to determine whether this violation is justified or unjustified and, if justified, whether it is strongly or weakly justified. This account of the two-step procedure is necessary in order to fully understand the moral attitude toward the moral rules. Since a complete understanding of the moral rules requires an understanding of the proper attitude toward them, an account of how violations of the moral rules are justified is essential for a complete understanding of these rules.