Perfectionism and Pragmatism
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In Order to Continue My Education With
Contemporary Metaethics Part 1 My Personal Notes © James Gray 2009-2011 Originally published at http://ethicalrealism.wordpress.com/ 1 Table of Contents 1. What is “Morality?”................................................................................................................5 What does “morality” mean?..................................................................................................6 Moral and nonmoral standards...............................................................................................9 2. The Debate Over Moral Realism..........................................................................................11 What is Moral realism?........................................................................................................11 Is moral realism true?...........................................................................................................14 3. Meta-Ethical Theories...........................................................................................................16 Moral naturalism..................................................................................................................16 Moral intuitionism................................................................................................................17 Emotivism.............................................................................................................................17 Moral relativism...................................................................................................................18 -
Contemporary Ethics
Social Psychology and Virtue Ethics Christian Miller Wake Forest University [email protected] The Journal of Ethics 7 (2003): 365-392 Several philosophers claim to have discovered a new and rather significant problem with virtue ethics.1 According to them, virtue ethics generates certain expectations about the behavior of human beings which are subject to empirical testing. But when the relevant experimental work is done in social psychology, the results fall remarkably short of meeting those expectations. So, these philosophers think, despite its recent success virtue ethics has far less to offer to contemporary ethical theory than might have been initially thought. In this paper, I hope to suggest some plausible ways in which virtue ethicists can resist arguments based on empirical work in social psychology.2 My plan is to proceed as follows. In the first three sections, an attempt will be made to reconstruct the line of reasoning being used against virtue ethics by 1 See for example Gilbert Harman, “Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology: Virtue Ethics and the Fundamental Attribution Error,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 99 (1999), pp. 315-332 and “The Nonexistence of Character Traits,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 100 (2000), pp. 223-226, John Doris, “Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics,” Noûs 32 (1998), pp. 504-530 and Lack of Character: Personality and Moral Behavior (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), and John Campbell, “Can Philosophical Accounts of Altruism Accommodate Experimental Data on Helping Behavior?” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 77 (1999), pp. 26-45. Other philosophers who seem to show some sympathy towards this objection include Simon Blackburn, Ruling Passions: A Theory of Practical Reasoning (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), p. -
CRITICAL NOTICE Why We Need Ordinary Language Philosophy
CRITICAL NOTICE Why We Need Ordinary Language Philosophy Sandra Laugier, Translated by Daniela Ginsberg, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2013, pp. 168, £ 24.50. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-47054-2 (cloth). Reviewed by Derek A. McDougall Originally published in French in the year 2000, the English version of Sandra Laugier’s short book of 10 Chapters plus an Introduction and Conclusion, has a 7 page Preface, 9 pages of Notes, a brief Bibliography and 121 pages of actual text. The reading of Wittgenstein and Austin that she provides is distinctly Cavellian in character. Indeed, Stanley Cavell in a dust-cover quote, remarks that her work is already influential in France and Italy, exciting as it does a new interest in ‘language conceived not only as a cognitive capacity but also as used, and meant, as part of our form of life’. Cavell goes on to say that this new translation is not merely welcome but indispensable, and has at least the capacity to alter prevailing views about the philosophy of language, so affecting what we have come to think of as the ‘analytic-continental divide’. Toril Moi of Duke Uni., in another dust-cover quote, states that Laugier’s reading of Wittgenstein-Austin-Cavell shows how their claim that ‘to speak about language is to speak about the world is an antimetaphysical revolution in philosophy that tranforms our understanding of epistemology and ethics.’ She concludes with the thought that anyone who wishes to understand what ‘ordinary language philosophy’ means today should read this book. This is a large claim to make, and anyone who is inclined to read Wittgenstein and Austin strictly in their own terms, and with their own avowed intentions - where discernible - steadily in view, is almost bound to conclude that it is simply not true. -
Rethinking of the Moral and Political Ideas of Socrates in Contemporary Scenario- an Analysis
www.ijcrt.org © 2018 IJCRT | Volume 6, Issue 1 January 2018 | ISSN: 2320-2882 RETHINKING OF THE MORAL AND POLITICAL IDEAS OF SOCRATES IN CONTEMPORARY SCENARIO- AN ANALYSIS DIVAKARA. T.S Research Scholar Department of Studies in Philosophy Manasagangothri, University of Mysore Mysuru, Karnataka-570006. ABSTRACT: Socrates was a classical Greek Philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy and as being the first moral philosopher, of the western ethical tradition of thought An enigmatic figure, he made no writings, and is known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers. writing after his lifetime, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. Other sources include the contemporaneous Antisthenes Arstippus, and Aeschines of Sphettos.Aristophanes , a Playwrite is the only source to have written during his lifetime Plato’s dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best disciple'.Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics , and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus.The elenchus remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of epistemology , and his ideologies and approach have proven a strong foundation for much Western philosophy that has followed. -
1 of Law, Virtue and Justice – an Introduction
1 Of Law, Virtue and Justice – An Introduction AMALIA AMAYA AND HO HOCK LAI I. THE REVIVAL OF VIRTUE N THE LAST decades, there has been a blossoming of virtue-based approaches to a number of philosophical problems. Virtue theory has a I prominent place in both contemporary ethics and epistemology. A. Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics has its origins in Classical Greece and it was the dominant approach in western moral philosophy until the Enlightenment. During the nineteenth cen- tury and the first half of the twentieth century, virtue theory faded from the land- scape of moral philosophy, and the discussion on ethics centered around two traditions, namely, deontology and utilitarianism. Virtue ethics re-emerged in the late 1950s, with Elizabeth Anscombe’s important article ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’, and has established itself as a major approach in normative ethics.1 The revival of virtue ethics was motivated by an increasing dissatisfaction with deontology and utilitarianism. Proponents of virtue theories objected that these theories sidestepped or ignored a number of topics that any adequate moral phi- losophy should address, such as motives, moral character, moral education, the moral significance of friendship, family relations, and community bonds, ques- tions about what sort of person one should be, the role of emotions in our moral life, and a concern with happiness and flourishing.2 There is a wide variety of views that fall under the heading of virtue ethics, as critics have objected to differ- ent aspects of modern ethical theory and have developed a virtue-based approach 1 Anscombe (1958), reprinted in Crisp and Slote (1997). -
A Pragmatic Ethics of Belief (Draft – Presented at the Nordic Pragmatism Network Workshop “Pragmatism and the Ethics of Belief, Jyväskylä, Finland, December 2008)
Ulf Zackariasson Jyväskylä 15-17/12 2008 Ethics and a Pragmatic Ethics of Belief (Draft – presented at the Nordic Pragmatism Network workshop “Pragmatism and the Ethics of Belief, Jyväskylä, Finland, December 2008) Ulf Zackariasson University of Adger Introduction Outside the world of philosophy journals and conferences, there can be little doubt that moral considerations comprise the most potent source of critique of religious practices. Nevertheless, within philosophy of religion, moral critique has played a remarkably modest role, and the Anglo-American mainstream of philosophy of religion has a rather awkward attitude towards moral critique, since its focus is almost exclusively on epistemic justification. I think this awkwardness stems from a conception of religious practices which construes them as logically prior to moral reflection on these practices. Pragmatism, as I understand it, offers a more adequate articulation of the relation between ethics and religion, where religious practices are understood as responses to problematic situations that, to a significant extent, have moral implications. Hence, moral critique – I use moral and ethical as synonyms here – does not come into play only after these practices are formed; they are – or may be – important elements of the process through which they are constituted. In order to bring out the difference this makes for philosophical reflection on religion, and why a reconstruction is called for, I will compare a currently prominent attempt to justify belief, William Alston’s, to a -
1 Unit 5 Ethics in Contemporary Philosophy
UNIT 5 ETHICS IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY Contents 5.0. Objectives 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Definition 5.3. Normative Ethics: A New Look 5.4. Meta-ethics or Second Order Ethics 5.5. Virtue Ethics: The Aristotelian Revival 5.6. Practical Ethics: Forgotten Past Unearthed 5.7. Let Us Sum Up 5.8. Key Words 5.9. Further Readings and References 5.10. Answers to Check Your Progress 5.0. OBJECTIVES An overview of history of western ethics (which is a branch of philosophy), called “Moral Philosophy” as well, gives us an idea that there are at least five important epochs in the philosophical enterprise regarding moral matters. “Contemporary Western Ethics” is the fifth epoch; the objective of this paper is: • to bring out the characteristic features of contemporary ethics 5.1. INTRODUCTION First, there is early and rich Greek Ethics marked by Pre- Socratic, Socratic, Platonic, Aristotelian and Sophistic original thinking and writings. Furthered by some equally influential writings of some Hellenistic and Roman ethicists, the Cynic and the Cyrenaics and the Stoics in the main. And then after Epicurus’ Cyrenaicism, Plotinus was responsible for what we now call, “Neo-Platonism.” Contemporary ethics owes much to these early and rich ethical reflections, about which we shall come to know later on in the discussion. Nothings less do we owe to the Medical Moral philosophy, especially to the ethical thinking and writings of some remarkably eloquent Christian ethicists like Augustine, Aquinas, Duns Scotus and William of Ockham. This paved way to what we may call, the third epoch, the Early Modern ethical epoch, growing particularly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced by religious Reformation, and the scientific revolution of Copernicus and Galileo, Francis Bacon, Erasmus, Luther and Calvin, However the real modern turn came with the radical writings of Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) and the Cambridge Platonists like, Cudworth, Cumberland, Malebranche. -
Beyond Cultural Relativism: an Ecological Model for Rhetorical Ethics
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 314 807 CS 507 036 AUTHOR Mackin, Jim TITLE Beyond Cultural Relativism: An Ecological Model for Rhetorical Ethics. PUB DATE Nov 89 NOTE 8p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association (75th, San Francisco, CA, November 18-21, 1989). PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)-- Viewpoints (120) -- Reports - Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Communication Research; Cultural Context; Ecclogy; *Ethics; *Models; Moral Values; Research Nee0s; *Rhetoric IDENTIFIERS Aristotle; Communication Theory; *Cultural Relativism ABSTRACT A model intended to overcome the cultural relativism of determining what is an ethical act draws an analogy to environmental studies. Beginning with the concepts of "telos" (final purpose) and "archai" (priority), the notion ofan ecosystem of ethics avoids limitation to a particular historical definitionof good. Since the telos of human life is the quest for the good,a communicative ecosystem's virtues are those which enable its members to seek the good. An ideal communicative system supports all parts equally, and the parts in turn support the system. The telosof the individual and of the system are interrelated; both must be taken into account in making ethical decisions. The practice of living ethically will include system building and transforming. How to help the present system become more like the ideal without making the system less viable is the central question. Combining the notionsof public and private into a systems relationship should increase understanding of the problem of morality, but also will raisenew inquiries. (Twenty-five notes are included.) (SG) ****************************.****************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatcan be made from the original document. -
Contemporary Ethical Theories and Jurisprudence George Nakhnikian
Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Natural Law Forum 1-1-1957 Contemporary Ethical Theories and Jurisprudence George Nakhnikian Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/nd_naturallaw_forum Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Nakhnikian, George, "Contemporary Ethical Theories and Jurisprudence" (1957). Natural Law Forum. Paper 17. http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/nd_naturallaw_forum/17 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Natural Law Forum by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL THEORIES AND JURISPRUDENCE George Nakhnikian FOUR TYPES of ethical theory have been the ones most heatedly debated among analytic philosophers since the appearance in 1903 of G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica. Each type has certain consequences for jurisprudence. This essay describes the essential features of the theories and points out some of the readily discernible consequences. For the sake of clarity, I shall explain how I am using the terms 'juris- prudence' and 'ethical theory' and make some remarks concerning the relevance of ethics for jurisprudence. I have adopted Julius Stone's definition of 'jurisprudence' and his three- fold division of jurisprudence into analytical, ethical, and sociological. "Juris- prudence," writes Stone, "is the examination of law in the light of other disciplines than the law." ' The following three main questions may be asked concerning the -
Ethics Content
Ethics Content I Introduction to Ethics Unit-1 Nature and Scope of Ethics Unit-2 Importance and Challenges of Ethics Unit-3 Ethics in the History of Indian Philosophy Unit-4 Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy II Ethical Foundations Unit-1 Human Values Unit-2 Human Virtues Unit-3 Human Rights Unit-4 Human Duties III Applied Ethics Unit-1 International Ethics Unit-2 Bioethics Unit-3 Environmental Ethics Unit-4 Media Ethics IV Current Ethical Debates Unit-1 Natural Moral Law Unit-2 Deontology and Moral Responsibility Unit-3 Discourse Ethics Unit-4 Social Institutions UNIT 1 NATURE AND SCOPE OF ETHICS Nature and Scope of Ethics Contents 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Moral Intuitionism 1.3 Human Person in Search of Himself/Herself 1.4 Love and the Moral Precepts 1.5 The Dynamics of Morality 1.6 The Constant and the Variable in Morality 1.7 Let Us Sum Up 1.8 Key Words 1.9 Further Readings and References 1.0 OBJECTIVES This unit aims at introducing the students to the philosophical need for Ethics starting from a brief discussion of Moral law and how the human person in his or her process of growth intuits the ethical principles. Discussions pertaining to the dynamics of morality is undertaken to show how on the one hand new situations call for new responses from moral point of view and on the other hand certain fundamentals of ethics remain the same in so far as there is something of a common human nature adequately understood. -
Rawls and the Kantian Ethos*
Polity . Volume 39, Number 1 . January 2007 r 2007 Northeastern Political Science Association 0032-3497/07 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/polity Rawls and the Kantian Ethos* Nicholas Tampio Hamilton College John Rawls had a life-long interest in Kant. To provide a new perspective on Rawls’s political thinking, to illuminate Kant’s legacy for political theory, and to contribute to current debates about the Enlightenment, I track how Rawls interprets and transforms Kant’s legacy. In this essay, I show how Rawls reconceptualizes four key Kantian activities: the identification of the problem, the engagement with common sense, the construction of principles, and the authentication of principles. I defend Rawls from the charge—made by Allan Bloom, Michael Sandel, and Allen Wood, among others—that Rawls fundamentally misunderstands or misuses Kant. The basis of my defense is that Rawls considers a critical intellectual sensibility (or ethos), rather than a specific doctrine (e.g., the categorical imperative), as the most valuable component of Kant’s legacy. Polity (2007) 39, 79–102. doi:10.1057/palgrave.polity.2300044 Keywords Rawls; Kant; Enlightenment; ethos Nicholas Tampio teaches political theory at Hamilton College. He researches the legacy of the Enlightenment in contemporary political theory. He can be reached at [email protected]. Introduction John Rawls, it is well known, was a life-long student of Kant.1 One of the most famous and controversial sections of A Theory of Justice (1971) is entitled, ‘‘The *This essay grew out of seminars on Kant and Rawls at Johns Hopkins University with William E. -
A Pragmatic Approach to Ethical Inquiry on Transhuman Athletes And
A Pragmatic Approach to Ethical Inquiry on Transhuman Athletes and Gene Doping in Sport Rand Meshki, B.Sc. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Health Sciences (Health and Physical Education) Supervisor: Danny Rosenberg, PhD Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada Rand Meshki © July, 2011 Dedication You do not get to choose your parents but I may as well have. I would like to dedicate my thesis to my loving parents – my father Yousef who is the epitome of loyalty, honour and generosity and my nurturing mother Matilda whose strength, intelligence and selflessness is unfaltering. Thanks mom and dad for cultivating in me a seed of a love for learning. In addition, this thesis is dedicated to my sister Dina, brother Malek and sister-in-law Jenelle each of whom is always an amazing source of encouragement, inspiration, support and unconditional love. ii Abstract Gene doping is the most recent addition to the list of banned practices formulated by the World Anti-doping Agency. It is a subset of doping that utilizes the technology involved in gene therapy. The latter is still in the experimental phase but has the potential to be used as a type of medical treatment involving alterations of a patient‘s genes. I apply a pragmatic form of ethical inquiry to evaluate the application of this medical innovation in the context of sport for performance-enhancement purposes and how it will affect sport, the individual, society and humanity at large. I analyze the probable ethical implications that will emerge from such procedures in terms of values that lie at the heart of the major arguments offered by scholars on both affirmative and opposing sides of the debate on gene doping, namely fairness, autonomy and the conception of what it means to be human.