Ethics and the Quest for Wisdom

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 11
1. Ancient wisdom, modern challenges......Page 13
2. Plan of the book......Page 14
3. Pluralism and the modern fall......Page 20
4. Uncertainty and the deeper problem......Page 22
1. Openness and relativism......Page 26
2. The moral sphere and its limits......Page 28
3. Two ways of searching......Page 31
4. Restoring and preserving the moral sphere: violence and pacifism......Page 32
5. Exceptions to moral rules: lying......Page 34
6. Conclusion: Mill......Page 36
1. Another look......Page 39
2. The search and universality......Page 42
3. Further objections......Page 44
4. Final thoughts: openness and respect......Page 46
1. Intentions, Purposes and Plans of Action......Page 50
2. Moral sphere-breaking plans of action......Page 52
3. Treating as ends and as means......Page 54
4. Kant, Korsgaard, and the supposed right to lie for altruistic motives......Page 56
5. The Ends Principle: ideal and non-ideal theory......Page 60
6. Non-ideal theory with and without guilty parties......Page 61
7. Non-ideal theory continued: life-boat scenarios......Page 64
8. Levels of the moral sphere: might and right, war and peace......Page 66
9. Non-violence and “experiments with truth”......Page 69
10. Summary: moral sphere theory (MST)......Page 70
1. Dimensions of value......Page 72
2. The first dimension: basic value experiences......Page 74
3. Prima facie, or defeasible, goods......Page 76
4. Moore and the naturalistic fallacy......Page 79
5. Open questions and guidance of action: Darwall, Gibbard and Railton......Page 81
6. Epilogue: overriding and intrinsic value......Page 83
1. The second dimension of value......Page 86
2. Inclusion and overriding......Page 87
3. “Experiments in living”: Mill and others......Page 88
4. Value experiments and plans of action: Nozick’s experience machine......Page 91
5. Success and failure......Page 92
6. Value versus scientific experimentation again......Page 94
7. Practical reasoning and practical inquiry: happiness......Page 96
1. The third dimension of value......Page 98
2. Inclusion and overriding: internal and external goods......Page 99
3. Practices, traditions and excellences (aretai): MacIntyre, Raz......Page 101
4. Virtues and forms of life: Taylor, Anderson......Page 103
5. Relativism again: the retreatants revisited......Page 104
1. Inclusion and transcendence: non-relative value......Page 107
2. Human nature, natural law and classical virtue ethics......Page 109
3. Two kinds of universality......Page 111
4. Inclusion: particular and universal, relative and absolute, values......Page 114
5. Absoluteness and certainty......Page 116
6. Another look at relativism: the hard problem......Page 117
7. Good “for” and good “from the point of view of”......Page 118
1. Looking back and looking ahead......Page 121
2. What the retreatants could and could not say......Page 122
3. What openness does and does not imply......Page 123
4. Aspiration to wisdom: Kant’s three questions......Page 125
5. Searches in the realm of aspiration......Page 127
6. Aspiration......Page 129
1. First philosophy: Aristotle......Page 131
2. Ancient wisdom and the sunderings of modernity......Page 132
3. The ways things are......Page 134
4. Standards of evidence: aspiration revisited......Page 137
5. Global illusion and ancient wisdom: Descartes and others......Page 138
1. Alan the artist......Page 141
2. The objective viewpoint: Nagel, Rilke......Page 143
3.solaris: Lem, Hopkins......Page 144
4. Two aspects of objective worth......Page 146
5. If the beasts had no ears......Page 148
1. Two aspects of the self......Page 150
2. Aspiration and wisdom revisited......Page 152
3. Self-reflection and the objects of concern or care......Page 155
4. The moral sphere revisited: theoretical and practical inquiry about the good......Page 156
5. Postscript on obligations to non-human animals and other non-self-reflective beings......Page 158
1. Worthiness for glory: the third dimension revisited......Page 159
2. Roots, virtues and forms of life: relativism again......Page 161
3. Practices and excellence......Page 163
4. Artistic excellence and aesthetic value: Hume......Page 164
5. Neuroscience and neurocharms: Damasio, Turner......Page 166
6. The human sensorium......Page 168
7. A caution: ancient versus modern views of flourishing......Page 171
1. Excellence and relativism......Page 172
2. Faust and the two aspects of objective worth......Page 173
3. Counting in the nature of things: Nozick’s superior aliens......Page 175
4. The Faust legend: glory and concern......Page 177
5. The two goals of ancient wisdom revisited and the fourth dimension......Page 178
7. The fourth dimension and evil practices......Page 180
8. Postscript on moral realism......Page 182
1. Transition and review: the MST formula......Page 183
2. Objectively worthy lives......Page 184
3. Summary: moral rules......Page 187
4. Ethical intuitionism: W. D. Ross and others......Page 188
5. Self-evidence: moral intuitions and forms of life......Page 190
6. Systematization and conflicts of duty......Page 192
7. Kantian intuitionism: Audi......Page 195
8. Kantianism and the Formula of Humanity......Page 198
9. The Universal Law formulas: Hill and others......Page 200
10. Special obligations......Page 203
1. Deontological and teleological theories......Page 208
2. Utilitarian and consequentialist theories......Page 209
3. The Ill-gotten Goods restriction (IGG): slavery, torture......Page 211
4. Constrained consequentialisms......Page 213
5. Maximization and value experiments......Page 214
6. Mill and value empiricism......Page 215
7. Supererogatory action......Page 217
8. Rule-consequentialism......Page 219
9. Collapse and incoherence objections: lyons and others......Page 222
10. Rule-consequentialism and common-sense morality: Hooker......Page 224
11. Demandingness......Page 228
12. Fair shares, partialist and impartialist demands......Page 231
1. Contractualism and the MST: Scanlon......Page 237
2. The contractualist formula: reasons and desires......Page 238
3. Reasonable rejectability and the MST......Page 240
4. An MST analogue of the contractualist formula......Page 242
5. Scanlon’s contractualism and the circularity problem......Page 243
6. Holism, fairness and principles......Page 245
7. the appeal to mutual recognition......Page 248
8. Gridlock and irreconcilable differences......Page 251
9. The MST revisited......Page 254
11. Conclusion......Page 256
1. Politics and neutrality......Page 258
2. Neutrality and openness......Page 260
3. The grounding of rights and the search for the good......Page 261
4. Legal moralism: Devlin, Dworkin, and others......Page 262
5. The Public Morality Principle......Page 264
6. Moral education......Page 266
7. Virtues and moral education......Page 268
8. Justice and care: feminist themes......Page 269
9. Conclusion: political theory and the quest for wisdom......Page 271
References......Page 273
Index......Page 291