A radical rejection of spectrum arguments
(2026) In Synthese 207(1).- Abstract
Spectrum arguments are purported to show that the betterness relation is not a transitive relation. This is a drastic conclusion since much normative theorizing and everyday reasoning assume that betterness is transitive. In order to avoid this conclusion, many reject a plausible view on trade-offs between quality and quantity. The rejection can take the form of a radical or a conservative rejection. The radical rejection seemingly deviates more from the underlying intuition of the view than the conservative rejection. In this paper, I will argue that it is, nevertheless, more plausible to opt for a radical rejection. This will be done by showing how appeals to non-conventional value relations, such as parity and incomparability, that... (More)
Spectrum arguments are purported to show that the betterness relation is not a transitive relation. This is a drastic conclusion since much normative theorizing and everyday reasoning assume that betterness is transitive. In order to avoid this conclusion, many reject a plausible view on trade-offs between quality and quantity. The rejection can take the form of a radical or a conservative rejection. The radical rejection seemingly deviates more from the underlying intuition of the view than the conservative rejection. In this paper, I will argue that it is, nevertheless, more plausible to opt for a radical rejection. This will be done by showing how appeals to non-conventional value relations, such as parity and incomparability, that are associated with conservative rejection, will not provide a satisfying response to spectrum arguments.
(Less)
- author
- Andersson, Henrik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Betterness, Incommensurability, Spectrum, Transitivity
- in
- Synthese
- volume
- 207
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 28
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105026888724
- ISSN
- 0039-7857
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11229-025-05417-5
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
- id
- 886c094d-98b5-4ca0-9d99-b138664df687
- date added to LUP
- 2026-03-19 14:08:46
- date last changed
- 2026-03-19 14:09:58
@article{886c094d-98b5-4ca0-9d99-b138664df687,
abstract = {{<p>Spectrum arguments are purported to show that the betterness relation is not a transitive relation. This is a drastic conclusion since much normative theorizing and everyday reasoning assume that betterness is transitive. In order to avoid this conclusion, many reject a plausible view on trade-offs between quality and quantity. The rejection can take the form of a radical or a conservative rejection. The radical rejection seemingly deviates more from the underlying intuition of the view than the conservative rejection. In this paper, I will argue that it is, nevertheless, more plausible to opt for a radical rejection. This will be done by showing how appeals to non-conventional value relations, such as parity and incomparability, that are associated with conservative rejection, will not provide a satisfying response to spectrum arguments.</p>}},
author = {{Andersson, Henrik}},
issn = {{0039-7857}},
keywords = {{Betterness; Incommensurability; Spectrum; Transitivity}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Synthese}},
title = {{A radical rejection of spectrum arguments}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11229-025-05417-5}},
doi = {{10.1007/s11229-025-05417-5}},
volume = {{207}},
year = {{2026}},
}