Ethical Naturalism

Ethical Naturalism PDF Author: Susana Nuccetelli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139503898
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Ethical naturalism is narrowly construed as the doctrine that there are moral properties and facts, at least some of which are natural properties and facts. Perhaps owing to its having faced, early on, intuitively forceful objections by eliminativists and non-naturalists, ethical naturalism has only recently become a central player in the debates about the status of moral properties and facts which have occupied philosophers over the last century. It has now become a driving force in those debates, one with sufficient resources to challenge not only eliminativism, especially in its various non-cognitivist forms, but also the most sophisticated versions of non-naturalism. This volume brings together twelve new essays which make it clear that, in light of recent developments in analytic philosophy and the social sciences, there are novel grounds for reassessing the doctrines at stake in these debates.

Ethical Naturalism

Ethical Naturalism PDF Author: Susana Nuccetelli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139503898
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Get Book

Book Description
Ethical naturalism is narrowly construed as the doctrine that there are moral properties and facts, at least some of which are natural properties and facts. Perhaps owing to its having faced, early on, intuitively forceful objections by eliminativists and non-naturalists, ethical naturalism has only recently become a central player in the debates about the status of moral properties and facts which have occupied philosophers over the last century. It has now become a driving force in those debates, one with sufficient resources to challenge not only eliminativism, especially in its various non-cognitivist forms, but also the most sophisticated versions of non-naturalism. This volume brings together twelve new essays which make it clear that, in light of recent developments in analytic philosophy and the social sciences, there are novel grounds for reassessing the doctrines at stake in these debates.

From Psychology to Morality

From Psychology to Morality PDF Author: John Deigh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190878614
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The essays in this collection belong to the tradition of naturalism in ethics. The tradition goes back to the beginnings of moral philosophy in ancient Greek thought. Its program is to explain moral thought and action as wholly natural phenomena. Its aim, in other words, is to explain such thought and action without recourse to either a reality separate from that of the natural world or volitional powers that operate independently of natural forces. Its greatest exponent in ancient thought was Aristotle. In modern thought Hume and Freud stand out as the most influential contributors to the tradition. All three thinkers made the study of human psychology fundamental to their work in ethics. All three built their theories on studies of human desires and emotions and assigned to reason the role of guiding the actions that spring from our desires and emotions toward ends that promise self-fulfillment and away from ends that are self-destructive. The collection's essays draw inspiration from their ideas. Its twelve principal essays are arranged to follow the lead of Aristotle's and Hume's ethics. The first three survey and examine general theories of emotion and motivation. The next two focus on emotions that are central to human sociability and that contemporary Anglo-American philosophers discuss under the rubric of reactive attitudes. Turning to distinctively cognitive powers necessary for moral thought and action, the sixth and seventh essays discuss the role of empathy in moral judgment and defend Bernard Williams's controversial account of practical reason. The final five essays use the studies in moral psychology of the previous chapters to treat questions in ethics and social philosophy. The treatment of these questions exemplifies the implementation of a naturalist program in these disciplines.

Moral Virtue and Nature

Moral Virtue and Nature PDF Author: Stephen R. Brown
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441146474
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
What make someone a good human being? Is there an objective answer to this question, an answer that can be given in naturalistic terms? For ages philosophers have attempted to develop some sort of naturalistic ethics. Against ethical naturalism, however, notable philosophers have contended that such projects are impossible, due to the existence of some sort of 'gap' between facts and values. Others have suggested that teleology, upon which many forms of ethical naturalism depend, is an outdated metaphysical concept. This book argues that a good human being is one who has those traits the possession of which enables someone to achieve those ends natural to beings like us. Thus, the answer to the question of what makes a good human being is given in terms both objective and naturalistic. The author shows that neither 'is-ought' gaps, nor objections concerning teleology pose insurmountable problems for naturalistic virtue ethics. This work is a much needed contribution to the ongoing debate about ethical theory and ethical virtue.

Aristotelian Naturalism

Aristotelian Naturalism PDF Author: Martin Hähnel
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030375765
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
This book features many of the leading voices championing the revival of Neo-Aristotelian Ethical Naturalism (AN) in contemporary philosophy. It addresses the whole range of issues facing this research program at present. Coverage in the collection identifies differentiations, details standpoints, and points out new perspectives. This volume answers a need: AN is quite new to contemporary philosophy, despite its deep roots in the history of philosophy. As yet, there are many unanswered questions regarding its relation to contemporary views in metaethics. It is certainly not equivalent to dominant naturalistic approaches to metaethics in Anglophone philosophy. Indeed, it is not obviously incompatible with some approaches identified as nonnaturalistic. Further, there are controversies regarding the views of the first wave of virtue revivalists. The work of G.E.M. Anscombe and Philippa Foot is frequently misunderstood, despite the fact that they are important figures in the contemporary revival. This volume details a robust approach to ethics by situating it within the context of human life. It will help readers to better understand how AN raises deep questions about the relation of action and its evaluation to human nature. Neo-Aristotelians argue that something like the traditional cardinal virtues, practical wisdom, temperance, justice and courage, are qualities that perfect human reason and desire.

The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics

The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics PDF Author: Tom Angier
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108422632
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
How do ethical norms relate to human nature? This comprehensive and interdisciplinary volume surveys the latest thinking on natural law.

Ethical Naturalism and the Modern World-view

Ethical Naturalism and the Modern World-view PDF Author: Elie Maynard Adams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description


Ethical Naturalism

Ethical Naturalism PDF Author: John Kemp
Publisher: Palgrave
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description
“This monograph is concerned with the ethical theories of two of the most influential thinkers in the history of British philosophy, namely Hobbes and Hume. The author offers a clear and comprehensive exposition of their thought and subjects it to critical assessment from the point of view of contemporary analytical philosophy. The issues with which this book deals are of abiding interest and form the subject matter of lively debate amongst modern moral philosophers. When we say that some action is morally right, or that some state of affairs is morally good, what precisely do we mean? Can any adequate definition of moral rightness or goodness be given in non-moral terms? Could we, for example, substitute for morally right some such expression as ‘commanded by the sovereign power’; or could we, without loss or change of meaning, replace ‘This is morally good’ with some such description as ‘This causes a feeling of satisfaction in those who contemplate it’? Ethical naturalists think that the answer is in the affirmative, although they differ in the naturalistic definitions which they give to moral terms. Their opponents accuse them of being insensitive to the logically irreducible character of moral language.Readers will find that this book provides a valuable introduction to ethical naturalism, in both its classic and contemporary settings, and it will enable them to form their own judgement upon the crucial questions involved.”- Publisher

New Waves in Metaethics

New Waves in Metaethics PDF Author: Michael S. Brady
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780230251625
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Metaethics occupies a central place in analytical philosophy, and the last forty years has seen an upsurge of interest in questions about the nature and practice of morality. This collection presents original and ground-breaking research on metaethical issues from some of the very best of a new generation of philosophers working in this field.

On the Ethics of Naturalism

On the Ethics of Naturalism PDF Author: William Ritchie Sorley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ethics
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description


Naturalism in Question

Naturalism in Question PDF Author: Mario De Caro
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674030419
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Today the majority of philosophers in the English-speaking world adhere to the "naturalist" credos that philosophy is continuous with science, and that the natural sciences provide a complete account of all that exists--whether human or nonhuman. The new faith says science, not man, is the measure of all things. However, there is a growing skepticism about the adequacy of this complacent orthodoxy. This volume presents a group of leading thinkers who criticize scientific naturalism not in the name of some form of supernaturalism, but in order to defend a more inclusive or liberal naturalism. The many prominent Anglo-American philosophers appearing in this book--Akeel Bilgrami, Stanley Cavell, Donald Davidson, John DuprŽ, Jennifer Hornsby, Erin Kelly, John McDowell, Huw Price, Hilary Putnam, Carol Rovane, Barry Stroud, and Stephen White--do not march in lockstep, yet their contributions demonstrate mutual affinities and various unifying themes. Instead of attempting to force human nature into a restricted scientific image of the world, these papers represent an attempt to place human nature at the center of renewed--but still scientifically respectful--conceptions of philosophy and nature.