Download or read book Ethical Naturalism written by Susana Nuccetelli and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-12-08 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book From Psychology to Morality written by John Deigh and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-02 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Moral Virtue and Nature written by Stephen R. Brown and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2008-04-10 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book On the Ethics of Naturalism written by William Ritchie Sorley and published by Obscure Press. This book was released on 1885 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1884. Contents include: Ethics and its Problems - The Individualistic Theory - The Transition to Utilitarianism - Moral Sentiment - The Theory of Evolution and the Development of Morality - Evolution and Ethical Theories - Hedonism and Evolutionism - The Evolutionist End. Author: W.R.Sorley Language: English Keywords: Philosophy Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Excerpt From Text: ON THE ETHICS OF NATURALISM BY W. E. SOELEY, MA. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLECT, CAMBRIDGE, AND EXAMINER: PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH THE Deed of Foundation of the Shaw Fellowship pro vides that it shall be in the power of the Senatus Academicus of the University of Edinburgh to re quire the holder of the Shaw Philosophical Fellow ship, during the fourth or fifth year of his tenure of it, to deliver in the University of Edinburgh a course of Lectures, not exceeding four, on any of the subjects for the encouragement of the study of which the Fel lowship has been founded, The following pages consist of four lectures delivered in the University of Edinburgh, in accordance with this provision, in the month of January 1884. Since their delivery, the argument of the lectures has been revised, and in some places enlarged. I have, also thought it better to modify their original f oragr dividing the discussion into chapters. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. ETHICS AND ITS PROBLEMS. PAGE 1. Connection of ethics with theoretical philosophy, . . 1 a Dependence of ethical on theoretical points of view, . 1 Z Ethics necessary to complete philosophy, . 3 2 The inquiry into the ethical end, . 5 a Fundamental, ... 5 Z Implies a new point of view, .... 7 c Distinct from other ethical questions, . . 9 a From the inquiry into the methods of ethics, 10 From moral psychology and sociology, . . 13 3. Scope of the preijncicyy.. . . . .14 PART I. THE INDIVIDUALISTIC THEORY. CHAPTER II. EQOISM. Definition of Naturalism, ..... 20 Pyschological hedonism, . .21 Vlll CONTENTS. 1. Its theory of action ambiguous, . 22 Referring to a Actual consequences of action, 23 6 Or its expected consequences, . 23 c Or its present characteristics, . . 24 2. Ethical inferences from this theory, . 25 3. Transition from psychological to ethical hedonism, 31 4 Possible objections considered, ... 37 CHAPTER III. THE TRANSITION TO UTILITARIANISM. 1 Difference of the standpoints of individual and State, . 41 2. Connection between egoism and utilitarianism according to Bentham, . 45 a Utilitarianism not a political duty, . 46 b Nor a moral duty, ..... 47 c Nor insisted on as a religious duty, . . 49 d Nor sufficiently motived m private ethics, . 50 3. Exhaustive character of Benthams treatment from his point of view, ...... 51 a The religious sanction Paley, . . .53 6 Limits of the political sanction, 54 c Uncertainty of the social sanction, .
Download or read book Aristotelian Naturalism written by Martin Hähnel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-04-06 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Ethical Naturalism written by John Kemp and published by Palgrave. This book was released on 1970 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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
Download or read book Understanding Naturalism written by Jack Ritchie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many contemporary Anglo-American philosophers describe themselves as naturalists. But what do they mean by that term? Popular naturalist slogans like, "there is no first philosophy" or "philosophy is continuous with the natural sciences" are far from illuminating. "Understanding Naturalism" provides a clear and readable survey of the main strands in recent naturalist thought. The origin and development of naturalist ideas in epistemology, metaphysics and semantics is explained through the works of Quine, Goldman, Kuhn, Chalmers, Papineau, Millikan and others. The most common objections to the naturalist project - that it involves a change of subject and fails to engage with "real" philosophical problems, that it is self-refuting, and that naturalism cannot deal with normative notions like truth, justification and meaning - are all discussed. "Understanding Naturalism" distinguishes two strands of naturalist thinking - the constructive and the deflationary - and explains how this distinction can invigorate naturalism and the future of philosophical research.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics written by Tom Angier and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do ethical norms relate to human nature? This comprehensive and interdisciplinary volume surveys the latest thinking on natural law.
Download or read book New Waves in Metaethics written by Michael S. Brady and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book On the Ethics of Naturalism written by W. R. Sorley and published by . This book was released on 1925 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Naturalism written by William Lane Craig and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naturalism provides a rigorous analysis and critique of the major varieties of contemporary philosophical naturalism. The authors advocate the thesis that contemporary naturalism should be abandoned, in light of the serious objections raised against it. Contributors draw on a wide range of topics including: epistemology, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind and agency, and natural theology.
Download or read book On the Ethics of Naturalism written by William Ritchie Sorley and published by Theclassics.Us. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885 edition. Excerpt: ...seen in a writer such as J. S. Mill, there is a constant goal always set to it in the possible maximum of pleasant feeling. It would not have been inconsistent for him, however, to look upon human nature as capable of developing new susceptibilities for pleasure. Progress is made by increasing the amount of pleasure actually got. And so far, the ideal itself is certainly fixed, while progress consists in its gradual realisation. But there is no special virtue in having an ideal which is itself progressive. A progressive ideal simply means an ideal which is incompletely comprehended, and the comprehension of which proceeds gradually with its realisation. At any time the definition of such an ideal can only be tentative: with the actual assimilation of character to it, the intellect comes to grasp its nature with increasing clearness. I do not myself think that we can expect to have more than such a tentative and progressive comprehension of the moral ideal of humanity. But we must not take objection to a theory because it gives at once a clear and definite view of the final end of conduct: though we must not refrain from inquiring how the end is known. 1 J. T. Punnet, "Ethical Alternatives"--Mind, x. 95. 2 Science of Ethics, p. 363. s Natural Law: An Essay in Ethics (1877), p. 101. But the bearing of the objection to utilitarianism Force of ti becomes apparent when we try to give some definite bln10' meaning to the end greatest happiness. If we are Jj content to receive it as simply a very general--or interpret rather abstract--expression for our ideal, nothing happiness, need be said, except to put the question, which has been already asked, How we came by such an ideal? The difficulty arises when we attempt to apply the by showing...
Download or read book Naturalism and Constructivism in Metaethics written by Sofia Bonicalzi and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-04-11 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of essays, several authors, belonging to different generations and philosophical traditions, discuss ample ethical and metaethical issues together with their relations to questions of applied ethics. The volume provides a wide account of some of the main topics in these fields, thus dealing with nearly everything that human beings hold as valuable. Expert scholars and young researchers contribute to this virtual symposium, reframing the current philosophical debates about the definition and the history of the concept of Naturalism, the different declinations of Kantian Constructivism, the functioning of Rational Choice Theory, the complex role played by Neuroscience in redefining the contours of ethical theories and bioethics, the puzzles of Deontic Logic, and the bases of Animal Ethics. Divided into three sections, presented by comprehensive introductions by Sofia Bonicalzi, Leonardo Caffo and Mattia Sorgon, the present collection includes contributions by Martina Belmonte, Michele Borri, Luciana Ceri, Guglielmo Feis, Matteo Grasso, Andrea Lavazza, Sarah Songhorian, and Francesca Vitale. Each author develops a distinctive and independent position, while critically engaging with the central themes of contemporary reflection. This new, major study will benefit moral philosophers, philosophers of science, and scientists concerned with bioethics, while at the same time stimulating and challenging anyone who is curious about the nature and the origins of ethical and metaethical enquiries.
Download or read book The Birth of Ethics written by Philip Pettit and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine a human society, perhaps in pre-history, in which people were generally of a psychological kind with us, had the use of natural language to communicate with one another, but did not have any properly moral concepts in which to exhort one another to meet certain standards and to lodge related claims and complaints. According to The Birth of Ethics, the members of that society would have faced a set of pressures, and made a series of adjustments in response, sufficient to put them within reach of ethical concepts. Without any planning, they would have more or less inevitably evolved a way of using such concepts to articulate desirable patterns of behavior and to hold themselves and one another responsible to those standards. Sooner or later, they would have entered ethical space. While this central claim is developed as a thesis in conjectural history or genealogy, the aim of the exercise is philosophical. Assuming that it explains the emergence of concepts and practices that are more or less equivalent to ours, the story offers us an account of the nature and role of morality. It directs us to the function that ethics plays in human life and alerts us to the character in virtue of which it can serve that function. The emerging view of morality has implications for the standard range of questions in meta-ethics and moral psychology, and enables us to understand why there are divisions in normative ethics like that between consequentialist and Kantian approaches.
Download or read book Moral Error Theory written by Jonas Olson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonas Olson presents a critical survey of moral error theory, the view that there are no moral facts and so all moral claims are false. Part I explores the historical context of the debate; Part II assesses J. L. Mackie's famous arguments; Part III defends error theory against challenges and considers its implications for our moral thinking.
Download or read book On the Ethics of Naturalism written by William Ritchie Sorley and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally a lecture series given at Cambridge University in 1912, Sorley argues against naturalism as a moral philosophy. He asserts that naturalism can neither identify nor provide objective ethical standards for human behavior and that identifying good actions and choices in a moral sense requires individuals to go beyond naturalism. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book On the Ethics of Naturalism written by William Ritchie Sorley and published by . This book was released on 1890 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
