Conclusions

Summary

This chapter draws conclusions and considers ways of extending the gradualist hypothesis to topics not discussed here. An example of the latter is human rights. For gradualists, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that human rights may come in degrees. Perhaps an unborn fetus has a right to life that must be balanced against that of the pregnant mother, who has a right to full control of her body. If rights are binary it is hard to see how both these rights could coexist, but gradualist could argue that both rights hold to some limited degree. Another possible extension is duty ethics. Although Kant himself rejected the gradualist hypothesis, it seems possible to argue that a slightly modified version of duty ethics could include gradualist duties. This and a couple of other extensions are briefly considered.