From Morality to Metaphysics

From Morality to Metaphysics PDF

Author: Angus Ritchie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0199652511

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Angus Ritchie offers an argument for the existence of God, which is based on our most fundamental moral beliefs. He argues for the 'deliberative indispensability' of moral realism, and asserts that only theism can adequately explain our capacity for knowledge of objective moral truths.

Morality and Metaphysics

Morality and Metaphysics PDF

Author: Charles Larmore

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1108472346

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This book develops an account of morality, freedom, and reason that breaks with many leading currents of modern thought. Starting from an analysis of moral judgment, it branches into related topics such as freedom and the causal order, textual interpretation, the self and self-knowledge, and duties to ourselves.

Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals PDF

Author: Iris Murdoch

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1994-03-01

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 1101495790

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The decline of religion and ever increasing influence of science pose acute ethical issues for us all. Can we reject the literal truth of the Gospels yet still retain a Christian morality? Can we defend any 'moral values' against the constant encroachments of technology? Indeed, are we in danger of losing most of the qualities which make us truly human? Here, drawing on a novelist's insight into art, literature and abnormal psychology, Iris Murdoch conducts an ongoing debate with major writers, thinkers and theologians—from Augustine to Wittgenstein, Shakespeare to Sartre, Plato to Derrida—to provide fresh and compelling answers to these crucial questions.

The Metaphysics and Ethics of Relativism

The Metaphysics and Ethics of Relativism PDF

Author: Carol Rovane

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2013-12-16

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0674726979

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Relativism is a hotly contested doctrine among philosophers, some of whom regard it as neither true nor false but simply incoherent. As Carol Rovane demonstrates in this analytical tour-de-force, the way to defend relativism is not initially by establishing its truth but by clarifying its content. The Metaphysics and Ethics of Relativism elaborates a doctrine of relativism that has a consistent logical, metaphysical, and practical significance. Relativism is worth debating, Rovane contends, because it bears directly on the moral choices we make in our lives. Three intuitive conceptions of relativism have been influential in philosophical discourse. These include the idea that certain unavoidable disagreements are irresolvable, leading to the conclusion that "both sides are right," and the idea that truth is always relative to context. But the most compelling, Rovane maintains, is the "alternatives intuition." Alternatives are truths that cannot be embraced together because they are not universal. Something other than logical contradiction excludes them. When this is so, logical relations no longer hold among all truth-value-bearers. Some truths will be irreconcilable between individuals even though they are valid in themselves. The practical consequence is that some forms of interpersonal engagement are confined within definite boundaries, and one has no choice but to view what lies beyond those boundaries with what Rovane calls "epistemic indifference." In a very real sense, some people inhabit different worlds--true in themselves, but closed off to belief from those who hold irreducibly incompatible truths.

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals PDF

Author: Immanuel Kant

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0300128150

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Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals is one of the most important texts in the history of ethics. In it Kant searches for the supreme principle of morality and argues for a conception of the moral life that has made this work a continuing source of controversy and an object of reinterpretation for over two centuries. This new edition of Kant’s work provides a fresh translation that is uniquely faithful to the German original and more fully annotated than any previous translation. There are also four essays by well-known scholars that discuss Kant’s views and the philosophical issues raised by the Groundwork. J.B. Schneewind defends the continuing interest in Kantian ethics by examining its historical relation both to the ethical thought that preceded it and to its influence on the ethical theories that came after it; Marcia Baron sheds light on Kant’s famous views about moral motivation; and Shelly Kagan and Allen W. Wood advocate contrasting interpretations of Kantian ethics and its practical implications.

Applied Philosophy

Applied Philosophy PDF

Author: Brenda Almond

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-07-20

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1000041425

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In bringing the concepts and methods of philosophy to bear on specific, pressing, practical concerns, applied philosophy is the modern expression of a perennial concern: to understand, in part to control, and to come to terms with the conditions in which human life is to be lived. Originally published in 1991 and written by distinguished philosophers and academics from Europe, the USA and Australia, the essays collected in this volume examine subjects of continued concern and debate, such as the environment, personal relationships, terrorism and medicine. The contributions were originally published in the Journal of Applied Philosophy.

Kant's Moral Metaphysics

Kant's Moral Metaphysics PDF

Author: Benjamin J. Bruxvoort Lipscomb

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 3110220032

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Recent interpreters of Kant's philosophy and contemporary advocates of broadly neo-Kantian views generally minimize the importance of Kant's metaphysical beliefs. This volume re-evaluates these minimizing approaches with particular reference to Kant's moral philosophy, exploring Kantian positions on such topics as moral corruption, the relation between God and ethics, the metaphysics of human freedom, and the possibility of knowledge of God. This volume is the first to place these topics within the context of the Critical philosophy as a whole, encouraging not only a more metaphysical, but also a more holistic reading of Kant.

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals PDF

Author: Immanuel Kant

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2023-09-11

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 3387044550

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Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics PDF

Author: Roger Crisp

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-01-31

Total Pages: 920

ISBN-13: 0191655767

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Philosophical ethics consists in the human endeavour to answer rationally the fundamental question of how we should live. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics explores the history of philosophical ethics in the western tradition from Homer until the present day. It provides a broad overview of the views of many of the main thinkers, schools, and periods, and includes in addition essays on topics such as autonomy and impartiality. The authors are international leaders in their field, and use their expertise and specialist knowledge to illuminate the relevance of their work to discussions in contemporary ethics. The essays are specially written for this volume, and in each case introduce the reader to the main lines of interpretation and criticism that have arisen in the professional history of philosophy over the past two or three decades.

Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals PDF

Author: Dieter Schönecker

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-01-05

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0674430131

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A defining work of moral philosophy, Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals has been influential to an extent far beyond what its modest length (roughly 75 pages) might suggest. It is also a famously difficult work, concerned with propounding universal principles rather than answering practical questions. As even professional philosophers will admit, first-time readers are not alone in finding some of its arguments perplexing. Offering an introduction that is accessible to students and relevant to specialized scholars, Dieter Schönecker and Allen Wood make luminously clear the ways the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals forms the basis of our modern moral outlook: that all human beings have equal dignity as ends in themselves; that every rational being is a self-governing agent whose morality freely derives from his or her own will; and that all rational beings constitute an ideal community, bound only by the moral laws they have agreed upon. Schönecker and Wood explain key Kantian concepts of duty, the good will, and moral worth, as well as the propositions Kant uses to derive his conception of the moral law. How the law relates to freedom, and the significance of the free will within Kant’s overall philosophy are rigorously interrogated. Where differing interpretations of Kant’s claims are possible, the authors provide alternative options, giving arguments for each. This critical introduction will help readers of the Groundwork gain an informed understanding of Kant’s challenging but central philosophical work.