Philosophers as Consultants

Abstract

Philosophers often serve as ethics consultants. In this chapter I suggest some guidelines about what we should expect from philosophers who provide this kind of service to committees or other groups. We will look at committees or groups that are in charge of developing or assessing institutions or policies, but have no formal political power. Such committees offer room for public deliberation and reasoning about the issues. The philosopher serves as a non-voting consultant at the request of the committee.