USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Living on a slippery slope.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
ISSN
1382-4554
Abstract
Our actions, individually and collectively, inevitably affect others, ourselves, and our institutions. They shape the people we become and the kind of world we inhabit. Sometimes those consequences are positive, a giant leap for moral humankind. Other times they are morally regressive. This propensity of current actions to shape the future is morally important. But slippery slope arguments are a poor way to capture it. That is not to say we can never develop cogent slippery slope arguments. Nonetheless, given their most common usage, it would be prudent to avoid them in moral and political debate. They are often fallacious and have often been used for ill. They are normally used to defend the moral status quo. Even when they are cogent, we can always ï¬nd an alternate way to capture their insights. Finally, by accepting that the moral roads on which we travel are slippery, we become better able to successfully navigate them.
Language
en_US
Publisher
Springer
Recommended Citation
LaFollette, H. (2005). Living on a slippery slope. Journal of Ethics, 9, 475-499. doi: 10.1007/s10892-005-3517-x
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Citation only. Full-text article is available through licensed access provided by the publisher. Published in Journal of Ethics, 9, 475-499. doi: 10.1007/s10892-005-3517-x. Members of the USF System may access the full-text of the article through the authenticated link provided.