Defending Deontic Constraints and Prioritarianism: Two Remarks on Tännsjö's Setting Health-Care Priorities

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    Abstract

    Torbjörn Tännsjö has written a clear and thought-provoking book on healthcare priority setting. He argues that different branches of ethical theory-utilitarianism, egalitarianism, and prioritarianism-are in general agreement on real-world healthcare priorities, and that it is human irrationality that stands in the way of complying with their recommendations. While I am generally sympathetic to the overall project and line of argumentation taken bv the book, this paper raises two concerns with Tännsjö's argument. First, that he is wrong to set aside deontic constraints as irrelevant or as pointing hi the same direction as consequentialism. Secondly, mat his argument against prioritarianism in favor of utilitarianism is insufficient and under-developed. Given these problems, I conclude that we should welcome Tännsjö's contribution but with these qualifications in mind.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalDiametros
    Volume18
    Issue number68
    Pages (from-to)33-45
    ISSN1733-5566
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Keywords

    • Healthcare priority setting
    • Prioritarianism, Utilitarianism, Human dignity
    • Tännsjö

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