“Human Being” a Moral Concept?
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A Confucian Defense of Shame: Morality, Self-Cultivation, and the Dangers of Shamelessness
religions Article Article Article A ConfucianA Confucian Defense Defense of Shame: of Shame: Morality, Morality, Self-Cultivation, Self-Cultivation, A Confucian Defense of Shame: Morality, Self-Cultivation, and theand Dangers the Dangers of Shamelessness of Shamelessness and the Dangers of Shamelessness Mark BerksonMark Berkson Mark Berkson Department of Religion,Department Hamline of Religion, University, Hamline St. Paul, University, MN 55104, St. USA;Paul, [email protected] 55104, USA; [email protected] Department of Religion, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN 55104, USA; [email protected] Abstract: ManyAbstract: philosophers Many and philosophers scholars in and the scholars West have in the a negative West have view a negative of shame. view In muchof shame. In much of Abstract: Many philosophers and scholars in the West have a negative view of shame.of post-classical In much ofpost-classical Western ethical Western thought, ethical shame thought, is compared shame is negativelycompared negatively with guilt, with as shame guilt, isas shame is asso- post-classical Western ethical thought, shame is compared negatively with guilt, asassociated shame is asso- withciated the “outer”, with the how “outer”, one appears how one before appears others before (and othe thusrs is (and merely thus a is matter merely of a “face”), matter of “face”), and ciated with the “outer”, how one appears before others (and thus is merely a matterand of “face”), guilt is and associatedguilt is associated with the “inner”with the realm “inner” of therealm conscience of the conscience and soul. and Anthropologists soul. Anthropologists and and philoso- guilt is associated with the “inner” realm of the conscience and soul. -
Consequentialism and Moral Responsibility
Consequentialism and Moral Responsibility Draft of September 2015 Elinor Mason For Christian Seidel (ed.) Consequentialism: new directions, new problems? OUP, forthcoming. There are two different ways of thinking about the relationship between consequentialism and moral responsibility. First, we might think that consequentialism can give us an account of responsibility. I discuss this possibility briefly, and then set it aside. The other way of thinking about the relationship is the focus of this paper. The question that concerns me, is, to what extent is a normative theory, consequentialism in particular, constrained by requirements that stem from concerns about responsibility? 1. Consequentialist Accounts of Moral Responsibility J.J.C. Smart suggests that we can extend consequentialist reasoning about morality to reasoning about responsibility. One of the attractions of consequentialism is that it provides such a straightforward and attractive account of justification for our moral practices. Why do we pay our taxes, treat each other with respect, look after each other and so on? Because doing so has good consequences. However, this sort of justification, though very appealing when considering moral practice, becomes extremely counterintuitive in other sorts of case. For example, it seems obvious that justification for beliefs cannot be consequentialist. Beliefs must be justified in some way that relates to their truth, though of course there is disagreement about exactly what makes a belief justified. Similarly, so a familiar line of thought goes, whether or not someone is responsible for an act, or for anything else, cannot be determined by looking at the consequences of holding them responsible. The claim that 1 responsibility can be understood in a consequentialist way seems like a category mistake.1 Smart’s view might be correct that, insofar as praising and blaming are actions, consequentialists should take the value of the consequences of performing those acts as the relevant factor in deciding whether or not to perform them. -
Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference
Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2006 Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference Based in Christian Ethics: a Critical Analysis and Response to the "Moral Individualism" of James Rachels Stephen Bauer Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Christianity Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Evolution Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Bauer, Stephen, "Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference Based in Christian Ethics: a Critical Analysis and Response to the "Moral Individualism" of James Rachels" (2006). Dissertations. 16. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/16 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF DARWINIAN EVOLUTION FOR HUMAN PREFERENCE BASED IN CHRISTIAN ETHICS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE TO THE “MORAL INDIVIDUALISM” OF JAMES RACHELS A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Stephen Bauer November 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3248152 Copyright 2006 by Bauer, Stephen All rights reserved. -
Han Feizi's Criticism of Confucianism and Its Implications for Virtue Ethics
JOURNAL OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY Journal of Moral Philosophy 5 (2008) 423–453 www.brill.nl/jmp Han Feizi’s Criticism of Confucianism and its Implications for Virtue Ethics * Eric L. Hutton Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, 215 S. Central Campus Drive, CTIHB, 4th fl oor, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA [email protected] Abstract Several scholars have recently proposed that Confucianism should be regarded as a form of virtue ethics. Th is view off ers new approaches to understanding not only Confucian thinkers, but also their critics within the Chinese tradition. For if Confucianism is a form of virtue ethics, we can then ask to what extent Chinese criticisms of it parallel criticisms launched against contemporary virtue ethics, and what lessons for virtue ethics in general might be gleaned from the challenges to Confucianism in particular. Th is paper undertakes such an exercise in examining Han Feizi, an early critic of Confucianism. Th e essay off ers a careful interpretation of the debate between Han Feizi and the Confucians and suggests that thinking through Han Feizi’s criticisms and the possible Confucian responses to them has a broader philosophical payoff , namely by highlighting a problem for current defenders of virtue ethics that has not been widely noticed, but deserves attention. Keywords Bernard Williams, Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Han Feizi, Rosalind Hursthouse, virtue ethics Although Confucianism is now almost synonymous with Chinese culture, over the course of history it has also attracted many critics from among the Chinese themselves. Of these critics, one of the most interesting is Han Feizi (ca. -
Understanding Bernard Williams's Criticism of Aristotelian Naturalism
UNDERSTANDING BERNARD WILLIAMS’S CRITICISM OF ARISTOTELIAN NATURALISM Michael Addison A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of MPhil at the University of St Andrews 2015 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9315 This item is protected by original copyright Understanding Bernard Williams’s Criticism of Aristotelian Naturalism. Michael Addison This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of MPhil at the University of St Andrews 19th November 2015 Abstract: In Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (henceforth ELP) Williams claims that holding a naturalistic Aristotelian ethical theory is no longer an option for us—we cannot believe what Aristotle believed about human beings. It is the purpose of this thesis to understand what Williams means by this claim and to evaluate whether or not it constitutes a pressing argument against Aristotelian naturalism. The modern Aristotelian (represented here by Martha Nussbaum, Philippa Foot and Rosalind Hursthouse) seems to be untouched by the claim as presented—they do not have to hold Aristotle’s view of human nature. The Aristotelian approaches human nature, not from an “outside” perspective, like the scientist, but from an “inside” perspective—from the point of view of an ethically engaged agent. The method does not seek to use a theory-independent notion of human nature to vindicate the Aristotelian claim that the properly functioning human being is virtuous. Rather, the Aristotelian is engaged in a project of using the notions of virtue that we already possess, to paint a picture of the kind of lives that we can all identify with, and endorse as properly functioning. -
Vegetarianism and Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little?
WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository 1-2002 Vegetarianism and Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little? Nathan Nobis University of Rochester Follow this and additional works at: https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/acwp_aafhh Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Other Anthropology Commons, and the Other Nutrition Commons Recommended Citation Nobis, N. (2002). Vegetarianism and Virtue: Does consequentialism Demand Too Little?. Social Theory & Practice, 28(1), 135-156. This material is brought to you for free and open access by WellBeing International. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Vegetarianism and Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little? Nathan Nobis Department of Philosophy, University of Rochester I will argue that each of us personally ought to be a vegetarian.1 Actually, the conclusion I will attempt to defend concerns more than one's eating habits in that I will argue that we should be "vegans." Not only should we not buy and eat meat, but we should also not purchase fur coats, stoles, and hats, or leather shoes, belts, jackets, purses and wallets, furniture, car interiors, and other traditionally animal-based products for which there are readily available plant-based or synthetic alternatives. (Usually these are cheaper and work just as well, or better, anyway.) I will argue that buying and eating most eggs and dairy products are immoral as well. (Since it's much easier -
RICHARD HARE 07 Hare 1226 15/11/2004 10:29 Page 117
07 Hare 1226 15/11/2004 10:29 Page 116 RICHARD HARE 07 Hare 1226 15/11/2004 10:29 Page 117 Richard Mervyn Hare 1919–2002 RICHARD HARE left behind at his death a long essay titled ‘APhilosophical Autobiography’, which has since been published.1 Its opening is striking: I had a strange dream, or half-waking vision, not long ago. I found myself at the top of a mountain in the mist, feeling very pleased with myself, not just for having climbed the mountain, but for having achieved my life’s ambition, to find a way of answering moral questions rationally. But as I was preening myself on this achievement, the mist began to clear, and I saw that I was surrounded on the mountain top by the graves of all those other philosophers, great and small, who had had the same ambition, and thought they had achieved it. And I have come to see, reflecting on my dream, that, ever since, the hard-working philo- sophical worms had been nibbling away at their systems and showing that the achievement was an illusion. Yet his imagination could also be less modest: a gaggle of moral philoso- phers is trapped beneath the earth in a smoke-filled chamber; they talk at cross purposes, and refuse to take the way out into the open air that he alone has discovered. It was his ambition to have united elements from Aristotle, Kant, and Mill in a logically cogent way that solved the funda- mental problems of ethics (though with unfinished business); and he usu- ally believed himself to have achieved this. -
Bernard Williams on Ethical Theory
Bernard Williams on Ethical Theory A Study of Bernard Williams' Critique of Ethical Theory and its Implications for doing Moral Philosophy Ivo R. Kreft A thesis submitted to the Department of Philosophy in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada January 1998 copyright 8 Ivo R. Kreft, 1998 National Library Bibliothey nationale d Canada du Cana a Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellkqton Street 395, rue Wellington ûttawaûN K1AOiU4 Onawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or seLi reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fïlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thése. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This thesis will evaluate the effect Bernard Williams' critique of ethical theory has on moral philosophy, and defend the view that although Williams has shown the inadequacies of theory, moral philosophy cm still enquire into the nature of ethics and produce substantive results. -
Facts & Figures 2015-2016
1 FACTS & FIGURES 2015-2016 Thirty-sixth Edition June 2016 Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0104 (205) 934-2384 www.uab.edu/institutionaleffectiveness 2 FOREWORD The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis is pleased to present Facts & Figures 2015-2016. This is the 36th edition of the UAB factbook, the seventeenth edition available electronically on the web. Facts & Figures is compiled by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis but reflects contributions from offices all over campus. We remain grateful for our contributors’ continued assistance. Facts & Figures can be easily accessed electronically via the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis web site (www.uab.edu/institutionaleffectiveness). Our objective with this factbook is to produce a useful and usable resource for a variety of information needs. Therefore, we welcome and appreciate your comments and suggestions to [email protected] about the content of Facts & Figures. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL INFORMATION UAB’s Strategic Plan ................................................................................................................................... 7 The Board of Trustees ................................................................................................................................ 8 Administration ............................................................................................................................................ -
Ethics, Final Paper
Ethics 24.231 Paper Topics – Final Paper – DUE December 9th by the BEGINNING of class. Please write a 2000-2500 word paper in response to one of the following topics OR in response to any of the paper topics from earlier in the term on which you have not yet written. (Of course, if you choose to respond to an earlier topic, you paper should still be 2000-2500 words long.) As before, you may choose to answer only some parts of a question, but you must be clear about what parts you are addressing. 1. Explain and evaluate Bernard Williams’ argument on pages 239-241 of “The Idea of Equality” for the conclusion that medical care should be distributed on the basis of medical need. Do you think Williams’ argument is sound? Does a parallel argument entail that haircuts should be distributed on the basis of haircutting need? 2. In “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer develops an argument for the conclusion that we ought to provide much, much more assistance than we do to needy strangers. His argument appeals to the following principle: If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it. Carefully set out Singer’s argument. Do you think the principle to which Singer appeals is true? If not, why not? In evaluating Singer’s argument, you may want to consider whether a decision not to give to famine relief differs in morally significant ways from a decision not to save a child drowning in a pond, because doing so would ruin your shoes. -
Oedipus's Responsibility: the Problem of Moral Luck Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel
2021-4218-AJHA – 28 APR 2021 1 Oedipus’s Responsibility: The Problem of Moral Luck 2 Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel 3 4 In mythology, Oedipus is determined by destiny or fate to a set of actions. If 5 he is not responsible for his fate or luck, will he be responsible for his crimes? 6 Can moral judgments be independent of luck, chance or fortune? Following 7 an example proposed by Nagel: two agents (with the same intention, desire, 8 belief, etc.) shoot someone. The first agent hits his target. The second agent 9 does not hit, because, luckily, a bird crossed the path of the bullet fired. Both 10 agents wanted to hit the target, but by chance or luck interference only one 11 hits. Do we judge both agents in the same moral way? The moral 12 responsibility of an agent over his actions seems inseparable from a principle 13 of control of the agent over his actions. However, when we analyse the object 14 of the moral judgment (agent, actions) the evaluation over it varies 15 according to elements of luck (constitutive, circumstantial, resulting, causal 16 fortune). Does luck introduce a paradox into the core of moral judgments 17 (Nagel's thesis), which limits any conception of morality (as Williams 18 argues)? In this paper we defend the need to consider morally agents and 19 actions, regardless of whether they are or are not subject to luck. 20 21 Keywords: Bernard Williams, luck, moral, Thomas Nagel. 22 23 24 Introduction: The Tension between Morality and Luck 25 26 Can moral judgments be independent of luck? The moral responsibility of 27 an agent for his actions seems inseparable from a principle of control of the agent 28 over his actions. -
Consequentialism and Commitment
CONSEQUENTIALISM AND COMMITMENT BY ALASTAIR NORCROSS Abstract: It is sometimes claimed that a consequentialist theory such as utilitarianism has problems accommodating the importance of personal commitments to other people. However, by emphasizing the distinction between criteria of rightness and decision procedures, a consequentialist can allow for non-consequentialist decision procedures, such as acting directly on the promptings of natural affection. Furthermore, such non- consequentialist motivational structures can co-exist happily with a commitment to consequentialism. It is possible to be a self-reflective consequentialist who has genuine commitments to individuals and to moral principles, without engaging in self-deception. Personal commitments, to people and, to a lesser extent, to principles, are a very important part of most people’s lives. They give shape and meaning to our lives, and help to constitute our identity. To say that I am Diana’s husband and David’s father is to give more than mere relational information about me. It says something fundamental about my motivational structure. There are things I would do for Diana and David, risks I would take, sacrifices I would endure, that I wouldn’t even consider for a perfect stranger, or even a fairly close friend. For most of us, it is hard to imagine what a life devoid of such commitments would be like. And yet, certain moral theories seem to require that we abandon them, or at least be prepared to abandon them whenever they conflict with the demands of impersonal morality. Both consequentialist theories and Kantian versions of deontology have been accused of being inimical to commitments.