Utilitarian alternatives to Act Utilitarianism

One problem for any utilitarian alternative to act utilitarianism, such as rule utilitarianism, is the feeling that act utilitarianism is the most natural form of utilitarianism. Other forms seen unmotivated, inconsistent, or irrational. This argument is found in Smart, Foot and Slote. It turns on the assumption that utilitarianism must be motivated by the "teleological motivation", the idea that one must derive one's entire moral theory from the notion of the good. I respond that act utilitarianism itself has a problem from the point of view of the teleological motivation, a problem solved, surprisingly, by several utilitarian alternatives including rule utilitarianism.     

Anti‐reductionism and Expected Trust

According to anti‐reductionism, audiences have a default (but defeasible) epistemic entitlement to accept observed testimony. This paper explores the prospects of arguing from this premise to a conclusion in ethics, to the effect that speakers enjoy a default (but defeasible) moral entitlement to expect to be trusted when they testify. After proposing what I regard as the best attempt to link the two, I conclude that any argument from the one to the other will depend on a strong epistemological assumption that has not yet been discussed in this connection.     

Conflict structure moderates associations between cardiovascular reactivity and negative marital interaction.

This study examined the role of marital conflict structure--who desires and requests change versus who responds to the change request--in spouses' cardiovascular responses to marital interactions. Forty-one couples discussed 2 marital topics: one in which the wife desired change in the husband, and one in wich the husband desired change in the wife. Cardiovascular responses were assessed at 2-min intervals. Results indicated that marital conflict structure moderates cardiovascular reactivity during negative marital interactions: Husbands and wives whose interactions were characterized by high levels of negative behavior showed the most pronounced diastolic blood pressure reactivity, but only when they were in the role of desiring change in their spouses. Implications for gender difference in marital conflict physiology are considered.