Glossary of terms related to moral status/circles

A collection of terms and their definitions relating to moral status, moral circles and similar. Pieced together (to attempt to make a coherent whole) from a variety of sources. Additions and corrections gratefully accepted.

Moral circle

The set of beings or entities (moral patients) that a person perceives as having moral standing.

References: 1

Moral boundary

Alternative term for moral circle, potentially better capturing the fact that the set of entities grouped in some coordinate system is multi-dimensional and not necessarily ‘circular’.

Moral patient

A being or entity included within a theory of good (/axiology/theory of value). Only those considered to have moral standing become moral patients.

References: 1

Welfare subject

A being or entity that can have things be non-instrumentally good or bad for them.

Moral standing

An entity has moral standing only if it has some intrinsic moral value.

Values: TRUE/FALSE (moral value > 0)

Moral concern/value/worth/weight

A measure of the amount of value attributed to a (class of) moral patient. Defined as a function of the patient’s moral status and capacity for welfare (or alternatively, equal to status adjusted welfare).

Values:  continuous 0 - 1

References: 1, 2, 3 

Moral status

The degree to which the interests of a patient with moral standing must be weighed in moral deliberation. Applicable to individuals or general classes (species, populations, etc).

Values:  continuous or discrete 0 - 1 (hierarchical view), or TRUE/FALSE (unitarian view)

References: 1, 2

Capacity for welfare

A measure of how good or bad a welfare subject’s life can go.

Values:  continuous 0 - 1

References: 1 

Status- adjusted welfare

Welfare weighted (multiplied) by moral status.

Values:  continuous 0 - 1

References: 1

Moral agency

The capacity to be morally responsible for one’s actions or the capacity to owe moral obligations to other beings. Moral standing does not necessarily entail moral agency.

Values: continuous?

References: 1

Moral dimension

A dimension along which Moral patients can differ and either moral status or capacity for welfare can be measured.

References: 1

Moral Circle Expansion (MCE)

An enlargement of a person or group’s moral circle over time. This often implies only that more entities are now given moral concern by that person or group, but could sometimes also mean entities already given some moral concern are now given more. The term can also refer to the activity of trying to cause this expansion.

References: 1, 2, 3, 4