Ulrike Heuer and Gerald Lang (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199599325
- eISBN:
- 9780191741500
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599325.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of ...
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This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of Williams's work are explored and taken in new directions. The chapters are all concerned with Williams's work on the viability or wisdom of systematic moral theory, and his criticism, in particular, of moral theory's preoccupation with impartiality. Some chapters address Williams's work on moral luck, and his insistence that moral appraisals bear a disquieting sensitivity to various kinds of luck. One chapter makes further connections between moral luck and the ‘non-identity problem’ in reproductive ethics. Other chapters investigate Williams's defence of ‘internalism’ about reasons for action, which makes our reasons for action a function of our desires, projects, and psychological dispositions. One chapter attempts to plug a gap in Williams's theory which is created by Williams's deference to imagination, while another chapter connects these issues to Williams's accommodation of ‘thick’ ethical concepts as a source of knowledge and action-guidingness. A further chapter examines Williams's less-known work on the other central normative concept, ‘ought’. Another chapter takes a look at Williams's work on moral epistemology and intuitionism, comparing and contrasting his work with that of John McDowell, and Gerald Lang explores Williams's work on equality, discrimination, and interspecies relations in order to reach the conclusion, similar to Williams's, theory that ‘speciesism’ is very unlike racism or sexism.Less
This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of Williams's work are explored and taken in new directions. The chapters are all concerned with Williams's work on the viability or wisdom of systematic moral theory, and his criticism, in particular, of moral theory's preoccupation with impartiality. Some chapters address Williams's work on moral luck, and his insistence that moral appraisals bear a disquieting sensitivity to various kinds of luck. One chapter makes further connections between moral luck and the ‘non-identity problem’ in reproductive ethics. Other chapters investigate Williams's defence of ‘internalism’ about reasons for action, which makes our reasons for action a function of our desires, projects, and psychological dispositions. One chapter attempts to plug a gap in Williams's theory which is created by Williams's deference to imagination, while another chapter connects these issues to Williams's accommodation of ‘thick’ ethical concepts as a source of knowledge and action-guidingness. A further chapter examines Williams's less-known work on the other central normative concept, ‘ought’. Another chapter takes a look at Williams's work on moral epistemology and intuitionism, comparing and contrasting his work with that of John McDowell, and Gerald Lang explores Williams's work on equality, discrimination, and interspecies relations in order to reach the conclusion, similar to Williams's, theory that ‘speciesism’ is very unlike racism or sexism.
Michael Lundblad
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199917570
- eISBN:
- 9780199332830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199917570.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter focuses on the sexual history of “the beast” in relation to human and nonhuman animals in the work of Jack London. Bringing together the work of theorists and historians such as Eve ...
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This chapter focuses on the sexual history of “the beast” in relation to human and nonhuman animals in the work of Jack London. Bringing together the work of theorists and historians such as Eve Sedgwick, Michel Foucault, and George Chauncey, the chapter illustrates how attention to the discourse of the jungle unsettles influential readings of The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea-Wolf (1904). While London might generally be seen as epitomizing the Darwinist-Freudian discourse of the jungle, erotic fireworks between species and between men in his work represent formulations of queer desire that illustrate alternative ways of thinking about animality. Many theorists continue to reinforce a construction of the beast or animality in general as inherently heterosexual, despite recent work by Chauncey, for example, that has uncovered queer human males self-identified as "wolves" at the turn of the century. The chapter concludes by considering alternative possibilities for thinking about pleasure between species, inspired by the work of London.Less
This chapter focuses on the sexual history of “the beast” in relation to human and nonhuman animals in the work of Jack London. Bringing together the work of theorists and historians such as Eve Sedgwick, Michel Foucault, and George Chauncey, the chapter illustrates how attention to the discourse of the jungle unsettles influential readings of The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea-Wolf (1904). While London might generally be seen as epitomizing the Darwinist-Freudian discourse of the jungle, erotic fireworks between species and between men in his work represent formulations of queer desire that illustrate alternative ways of thinking about animality. Many theorists continue to reinforce a construction of the beast or animality in general as inherently heterosexual, despite recent work by Chauncey, for example, that has uncovered queer human males self-identified as "wolves" at the turn of the century. The chapter concludes by considering alternative possibilities for thinking about pleasure between species, inspired by the work of London.
Vinciane Despret
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780816692378
- eISBN:
- 9781452954394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816692378.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter deals with the spectacle and exhibition of animals and humans, as well as its potential for an exchange of perspective across species. The author draws on these visual dynamics to argue ...
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This chapter deals with the spectacle and exhibition of animals and humans, as well as its potential for an exchange of perspective across species. The author draws on these visual dynamics to argue for consciousness as an interrelational process rather that a singular and independent cognitive process. Animals, she suggests, can see themselves as humans would see ourselves if we were in their position.Less
This chapter deals with the spectacle and exhibition of animals and humans, as well as its potential for an exchange of perspective across species. The author draws on these visual dynamics to argue for consciousness as an interrelational process rather that a singular and independent cognitive process. Animals, she suggests, can see themselves as humans would see ourselves if we were in their position.
