Kantian Dignity and Trolley Problems in the Literature of Richard Wright

Kantian Dignity and Trolley Problems in the Literature of Richard Wright PDF Author: Michael Wainwright
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031402162
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
This book examines the literature of African-American author Richard Wright and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, arguing that Wright was not only the foremost proponent of minoritarian protest literature, but also a groundbreaking minoritarian exponent of philosophical literature. In presenting this argument, the volume defends trolley problems from the criticism that some philosophers level against them by promoting their use as an interpretive tool for literary scholars. Starting with Martha C. Nussbaum’s interventions in literary theory concerning Henry James and perceptive equilibrium, this book draws on the philosophical thoughts of her contemporaries—Philippa Foot, John Rawls, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Derek Parfit—to analyze Uncle Tom’s Children, especially “Down by the Riverside,” alongside other works by Wright. This approach emphasizes Wright’s recognition of the importance and integrity of Kant’s concept of dignity.

Kantian Dignity and Trolley Problems in the Literature of Richard Wright

Kantian Dignity and Trolley Problems in the Literature of Richard Wright PDF Author: Michael Wainwright
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031402162
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the literature of African-American author Richard Wright and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, arguing that Wright was not only the foremost proponent of minoritarian protest literature, but also a groundbreaking minoritarian exponent of philosophical literature. In presenting this argument, the volume defends trolley problems from the criticism that some philosophers level against them by promoting their use as an interpretive tool for literary scholars. Starting with Martha C. Nussbaum’s interventions in literary theory concerning Henry James and perceptive equilibrium, this book draws on the philosophical thoughts of her contemporaries—Philippa Foot, John Rawls, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Derek Parfit—to analyze Uncle Tom’s Children, especially “Down by the Riverside,” alongside other works by Wright. This approach emphasizes Wright’s recognition of the importance and integrity of Kant’s concept of dignity.

Would You Kill the Fat Man?

Would You Kill the Fat Man? PDF Author: David Edmonds
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400848385
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein's Poker, a fascinating tour through the history of moral philosophy A runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster. However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he will die, his chunky body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man? The question may seem bizarre. But it's one variation of a puzzle that has baffled moral philosophers for almost half a century and that more recently has come to preoccupy neuroscientists, psychologists, and other thinkers as well. In this book, David Edmonds, coauthor of the bestselling Wittgenstein's Poker, tells the riveting story of why and how philosophers have struggled with this ethical dilemma, sometimes called the trolley problem. In the process, he provides an entertaining and informative tour through the history of moral philosophy. Most people feel it's wrong to kill the fat man. But why? After all, in taking one life you could save five. As Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex—and important—than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.

Arguments for Liberty

Arguments for Liberty PDF Author: Aaron Ross Powell
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 194442413X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Two schools of thought have long dominated libertarian discussions about ethics: utilitarianism and natural rights. Those two theories are important, but they’re not the only ways people think about ethics and political philosophy. In Arguments for Liberty, you’ll find a broader approach to libertarianism. In each of Arguments for Liberty’s nine chapters a different political philosopher discusses how his or her preferred school of thought judges political institutions and why libertarianism best meets that standard. Though they end up in the same place, the paths they take diverge in fascinating ways. Readers will find in these pages not only an excellent introduction to libertarianism, but also a primer on some of the most important political and ethical theories. Assuming little or no training in academic philosophy, the essays guide readers through a continuous moral conversation spanning centuries and continents, from Aristotle in ancient Athens to twentieth-century philosopher John Rawls in the halls of Harvard. What’s the best political system? What standards should we use to decide, and why? Arguments for Liberty is a guide to thinking about these questions. It’s also a powerful, nine-fold argument for the goodness and importance of human liberty.

Beauvoir in Time

Beauvoir in Time PDF Author: Meryl Altman
Publisher: Value Inquiry Book
ISBN: 9789004431201
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
"Beauvoir in Time situates Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex in the historical context of its writing and in later contexts of its international reception, from then till now. The book takes up three aspects of Beauvoir's work more recent feminists find embarrassing: "bad sex," "dated" views about lesbians, and intersections with race and class. Through close reading of her writing in many genres, alongside contemporaneous discourses (good and bad novels in French and English, outmoded psychoanalytic and sexological authorities, ethnographic surrealism, the writing of Richard Wright and Franz Fanon), and in light of her travels to the U.S. and China, the author uncovers insights more recent feminist methodologies obscure, showing Beauvoir is still good to think with today"--

Natural Goodness

Natural Goodness PDF Author: Philippa Foot
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191622915
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Philippa Foot has for many years been one of the most distinctive and influential thinkers in moral philosophy. Long dissatisfied with the moral theories of her contemporaries, she has gradually evolved a theory of her own that is radically opposed not only to emotivism and prescriptivism but also to the whole subjectivist, anti-naturalist movement deriving from David Hume. Dissatisfied also with both Kantian and utilitarian ethics, she claims to have isolated a special form of evaluation that predicates goodness and defect only to living things considered as such: she finds this form of evaluation in moral judgements. Her vivid discussion ranges over topics such as practical rationality, erring conscience, and the relation between virtue and happiness, ending with a critique of Nietzsche's immoralism. Natural Goodness is the long-awaited exposition of a highly original approach to moral philosophy, representing a fundamental break away from the assumptions of recent debates. Foot challenges many prominent philosophical arguments and attitudes; hers is not, however, a work of dry theory, but full of life and feeling, written for anyone intrigued by the deepest questions about goodness and human life. This beautifully written book offers a new beginning for moral philosophy.

Responsible Conduct of Research

Responsible Conduct of Research PDF Author: Adil E. Shamoo
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199709602
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Recent scandals and controversies, such as data fabrication in federally funded science, data manipulation and distortion in private industry, and human embryonic stem cell research, illustrate the importance of ethics in science. Responsible Conduct of Research, now in a completely updated second edition, provides an introduction to the social, ethical, and legal issues facing scientists today.

All that is Solid Melts Into Air

All that is Solid Melts Into Air PDF Author: Marshall Berman
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9780860917854
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
The experience of modernization -- the dizzying social changes that swept millions of people into the capitalist world -- and modernism in art, literature and architecture are brilliantly integrated in this account.

Ethical Challenges in Digital Psychology and Cyberpsychology

Ethical Challenges in Digital Psychology and Cyberpsychology PDF Author: Thomas D. Parsons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108428789
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Explores the ethical issues of cyberpsychology research and praxes, which arise in algorithmically paired people and technologies.

An Integrative Model of Moral Deliberation

An Integrative Model of Moral Deliberation PDF Author: J. Jeffrey Tillman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137490225
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
An Integrative Model of Moral Deliberation maintains that current models of moral deliberation do not effectively deal with contemporary moral complexity because they are based on an inadequate theory of moral cognition. Drawing on research in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, social theory, and dual process cognitive theory and on the work of William James, this book develops a theory of moral cognition which provides a major role for aesthetic sensibilities and upon this theory develops a robust model of moral deliberation. This model portrays moral deliberation as a back and forth movement between intuitive and analytic cognitions, which constructs narrative scenarios and then assesses and revises them according to aesthetic sensibilities.

Introduction to Philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy PDF Author: Christina Hendricks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781989014189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
We often make judgments about good and bad, right and wrong. Philosophical ethics is the critical examination of these and other concepts central to how we evaluate our own and each others' behavior and choices. This text examines some of the main threads of discussion on these topics that have developed over the last couple of millenia, mostly within the Western cultural tradition.The book is designed to be used alone or alongside a reader of historical and contemporary original sources, and is freely available in web and digital formats at https: //press.rebus.community/intro-to-phil-ethics/. If you are adopting or adapting this book for a course, please let us know on our adoption form for the Introduction to Philosophy open textbook series: https: //docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwf2E7bRGvWefjhNZ07kgpgnNFxVxxp-iidPE5gfDBQNGBGg/viewform?usp=sf_link. Cover art by Heather Salazar; cover design by Jonathan Lashley. One of nine books in the Introduction to Philosophy open textbook serie