In response to my post on how not to think about cutting in line, Jacob Levy makes these important points: I’m puzzled. This seems like the easiest of cases for a Kantian. I cannot will as a universal maxim that the cutter be allowed into line, because that would destroy the coherence of lining up. …
Tag Archives: waiting in line
how to think about cutting in line: a follow-up
Here is the second half to my previous post on this topic, as promised. CAUTION: Ideas in progress! Constructive criticism welcome. It seems to me that there is a (rough) distinction between two kinds of lines: those that are instituted for practical purposes, and those that confer moral status upon the persons at the front. First, …
how not to think about cutting in line: a crash course in normative ethics
While I was at the IHS seminar last week, someone mentioned in passing the issue of whether or not it is morally permissible to allow people to go ahead of you in a line. What precipitated this question was the fact that we were using the same dining hall as a number of groups of …
