Department of Political Science

Feiring's concept of forward-looking responsibility: a dead end for responsibility in healthcare

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Eli Feiring has developed a concept of forward-looking responsibility in healthcare. On this account, what matters morally in the allocation of scarce healthcare resources is not people's past behaviours but rather their commitment to take on lifestyles that will increase the benefit acquired from received treatment. According to Feiring, this is to be preferred over the backward-looking concept of responsibility often associated with luck egalitarianism. The article critically scrutinises Feiring's position. It begins by spelling out the wider implications of Feiring's view. Against this background, it shows that (i) Feiring's distinction between backward-looking and forward-looking responsibility is incompatible with the Scanlonian notion of responsibility she apparently endorses; (ii) her favoured forward-looking notion of responsibility is subject to the objections levelled against the luck egalitarian view (whatever the strength of such objections).
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Medical Ethics
Volume41
Issue2
Pages (from-to)161-164
Number of pages4
ISSN0306-6800
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Research areas

  • Eli Feiring, luck egalitarianism, health, health inequalities, personal responsibility, personal responsibility in, distributive justice in health, Feiring

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