Mathew Humphrey
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242672
- eISBN:
- 9780191599514
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242674.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Environmental political philosophy has generally been framed around the differing axiologies of ecocentrism (nature‐centred) and anthropocentric (human‐centred) forms of ethics. This book seeks to ...
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Environmental political philosophy has generally been framed around the differing axiologies of ecocentrism (nature‐centred) and anthropocentric (human‐centred) forms of ethics. This book seeks to challenge the political relevance of this philosophical dispute with respect to the problem of nature preservation as public policy. A detailed analysis of the philosophical underpinnings of both ecocentric and ‘ecological humanist’ positions shows that the ‘embedded humanism’ within ecocentric arguments offers an opportunity to move beyond the ecocentric‐anthropocentric divide. Furthermore, a principle of ‘strong irreplaceability’ with regard to natural goods can provide the basis for a political argument for nature preservation that is compatible with both human‐centred and nature‐centred concerns.Less
Environmental political philosophy has generally been framed around the differing axiologies of ecocentrism (nature‐centred) and anthropocentric (human‐centred) forms of ethics. This book seeks to challenge the political relevance of this philosophical dispute with respect to the problem of nature preservation as public policy. A detailed analysis of the philosophical underpinnings of both ecocentric and ‘ecological humanist’ positions shows that the ‘embedded humanism’ within ecocentric arguments offers an opportunity to move beyond the ecocentric‐anthropocentric divide. Furthermore, a principle of ‘strong irreplaceability’ with regard to natural goods can provide the basis for a political argument for nature preservation that is compatible with both human‐centred and nature‐centred concerns.
Mathew Humphrey
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242672
- eISBN:
- 9780191599514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242674.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Here the threads of the previous chapters are pulled together, and problems posed in the putative relationship between ontology and axiology are considered. A serious problem with ecocentric argument ...
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Here the threads of the previous chapters are pulled together, and problems posed in the putative relationship between ontology and axiology are considered. A serious problem with ecocentric argument is its attempt to eliminate political contingency from arguments for nature preservation, such contingency cannot be overcome by appeals to the existence of natural values. The argument is made that the ‘strong irreplaceability’ of natural entities provides sound (but not incontrovertible) grounds for nature preservation, and does so irrespective of any position with respect to the ecocentric‐anthropocentric divide in axiology.Less
Here the threads of the previous chapters are pulled together, and problems posed in the putative relationship between ontology and axiology are considered. A serious problem with ecocentric argument is its attempt to eliminate political contingency from arguments for nature preservation, such contingency cannot be overcome by appeals to the existence of natural values. The argument is made that the ‘strong irreplaceability’ of natural entities provides sound (but not incontrovertible) grounds for nature preservation, and does so irrespective of any position with respect to the ecocentric‐anthropocentric divide in axiology.
Talbot Brewer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199557882
- eISBN:
- 9780191720918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557882.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
How should we characterize the quarry of practical thought? Some hold that practical thinking must ultimately find some non‐evaluative fact to be a reason for action. Some have affirmed a ...
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How should we characterize the quarry of practical thought? Some hold that practical thinking must ultimately find some non‐evaluative fact to be a reason for action. Some have affirmed a ‘buck‐passing’ view of the good, according to which talk of goodness or value can be reduced to talk of the reason‐giving force of non‐evaluative facts. In this book, it has been argued that practical thinking must sometimes apprehend the intrinsic goodness or value of an activity, where this cannot be reduced to the reason‐giving force of any non‐evaluative fact. The task of this chapter is to show that this latter, recognizably Ancient understanding of value‐talk remains implicit in a great deal of our talk about value, and that we cannot consistently renounce it without incurring a steep cost in the metric of articulacy about value. Nor can we sequester off a subset of the things we care about, under the heading of the moral, and reduce our talk of values to talk of reasons in this domain. Our actual sense of the moral value of human beings cannot plausibly be characterized in terms of the reason‐giving force of non‐evaluative facts about them.Less
How should we characterize the quarry of practical thought? Some hold that practical thinking must ultimately find some non‐evaluative fact to be a reason for action. Some have affirmed a ‘buck‐passing’ view of the good, according to which talk of goodness or value can be reduced to talk of the reason‐giving force of non‐evaluative facts. In this book, it has been argued that practical thinking must sometimes apprehend the intrinsic goodness or value of an activity, where this cannot be reduced to the reason‐giving force of any non‐evaluative fact. The task of this chapter is to show that this latter, recognizably Ancient understanding of value‐talk remains implicit in a great deal of our talk about value, and that we cannot consistently renounce it without incurring a steep cost in the metric of articulacy about value. Nor can we sequester off a subset of the things we care about, under the heading of the moral, and reduce our talk of values to talk of reasons in this domain. Our actual sense of the moral value of human beings cannot plausibly be characterized in terms of the reason‐giving force of non‐evaluative facts about them.
Talbot Brewer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199557882
- eISBN:
- 9780191720918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557882.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
A central thesis of Aristotelian virtue ethics is that practical wisdom cannot be captured in a tractable set of general principles. This raises the question how virtue might be learned and how we ...
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A central thesis of Aristotelian virtue ethics is that practical wisdom cannot be captured in a tractable set of general principles. This raises the question how virtue might be learned and how we could ever fully articulate or assess our ethical convictions. The task of this chapter is to retrieve a recognizably Aristotelian view that is capable of clarifying these puzzles. On this view, we learn to be good by engaging in relationships sustained by continuously deepening approval by each participant of the other participant's evaluative outlook considered in itself. Healthy parent‐child relationships and good friendships are both relationships of this sort. The seeds of this view can be found in Aristotle's discussion of friendship (philia). This chapter develops a recognizably Aristotelian idea of philia and shows that it both fosters, and requires for its flourishing, an uncodifiable evaluative outlook whose verdicts are affirmable from all relevant social perspectives. This recognizably moral achievement emerges not as a limit on self‐interested pursuits but as a concomitant of a kind of human relationship that is essential to individual flourishing. The connection between virtue and philia lends support to Aristotle's otherwise counterintuitive claim that certain recognizably moral virtues are necessary conditions for happiness.Less
A central thesis of Aristotelian virtue ethics is that practical wisdom cannot be captured in a tractable set of general principles. This raises the question how virtue might be learned and how we could ever fully articulate or assess our ethical convictions. The task of this chapter is to retrieve a recognizably Aristotelian view that is capable of clarifying these puzzles. On this view, we learn to be good by engaging in relationships sustained by continuously deepening approval by each participant of the other participant's evaluative outlook considered in itself. Healthy parent‐child relationships and good friendships are both relationships of this sort. The seeds of this view can be found in Aristotle's discussion of friendship (philia). This chapter develops a recognizably Aristotelian idea of philia and shows that it both fosters, and requires for its flourishing, an uncodifiable evaluative outlook whose verdicts are affirmable from all relevant social perspectives. This recognizably moral achievement emerges not as a limit on self‐interested pursuits but as a concomitant of a kind of human relationship that is essential to individual flourishing. The connection between virtue and philia lends support to Aristotle's otherwise counterintuitive claim that certain recognizably moral virtues are necessary conditions for happiness.
Jeffrey Blustein
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195067996
- eISBN:
- 9780199852895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195067996.003.0018
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter explores John McTaggart's thesis which mentions in part that love, “as we find it in present experience,” may be “because of qualities,” but it is “never in respect of qualities.” It ...
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This chapter explores John McTaggart's thesis which mentions in part that love, “as we find it in present experience,” may be “because of qualities,” but it is “never in respect of qualities.” It points out that there is truth in the claim that “love justifies itself”: in the normal course of events, a lover does not have to justify love of another, to defend or support it, by pointing to qualities in the beloved for which one loves another. It further emphasizes that personal love attaches to the particular way in which a person instantiates the possibilities of being unique and irreplaceable. The chapter also conducts some thought-experiments on the issue of irreplaceability and explains further that each person loved is a unique, irreplaceable value because it is focused on a particular person with a particular style, and each person loved is irreplaceable because the love for that person is not displaced by the love for another.Less
This chapter explores John McTaggart's thesis which mentions in part that love, “as we find it in present experience,” may be “because of qualities,” but it is “never in respect of qualities.” It points out that there is truth in the claim that “love justifies itself”: in the normal course of events, a lover does not have to justify love of another, to defend or support it, by pointing to qualities in the beloved for which one loves another. It further emphasizes that personal love attaches to the particular way in which a person instantiates the possibilities of being unique and irreplaceable. The chapter also conducts some thought-experiments on the issue of irreplaceability and explains further that each person loved is a unique, irreplaceable value because it is focused on a particular person with a particular style, and each person loved is irreplaceable because the love for that person is not displaced by the love for another.
Dominic Pettman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823226689
- eISBN:
- 9780823235407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823226689.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This portion indicates the salient terms and conceptual frameworks required for the integration of eros, technics, and communitas. Technology, on the one hand, is not only ...
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This portion indicates the salient terms and conceptual frameworks required for the integration of eros, technics, and communitas. Technology, on the one hand, is not only defined as any set produced by technical means, but also described as the language (verbal or gestural) that binds “strangers;” while on the other, love can be expressed in the context of sexual desires, unconditional affection, and universal devotion to make communities prosper. Consequently, it is inferred that love is a technical tool of the community; likewise, technology is the result of one's love to his/her community. “Lover's discourse” seems to become universal across various periods of time considering the imperfections entailed in the discussion of love such as the “illusion of autonomy,” interchangeability, and irreplaceability.Less
This portion indicates the salient terms and conceptual frameworks required for the integration of eros, technics, and communitas. Technology, on the one hand, is not only defined as any set produced by technical means, but also described as the language (verbal or gestural) that binds “strangers;” while on the other, love can be expressed in the context of sexual desires, unconditional affection, and universal devotion to make communities prosper. Consequently, it is inferred that love is a technical tool of the community; likewise, technology is the result of one's love to his/her community. “Lover's discourse” seems to become universal across various periods of time considering the imperfections entailed in the discussion of love such as the “illusion of autonomy,” interchangeability, and irreplaceability.
Dominic Pettman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823226689
- eISBN:
- 9780823235407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823226689.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
“Mainstream” pornography constitutes the basic tension in “whateverbeing” such that lust is being equated to feelings of affection or, perhaps, that the completeness of the ...
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“Mainstream” pornography constitutes the basic tension in “whateverbeing” such that lust is being equated to feelings of affection or, perhaps, that the completeness of the process of love is not according to the mutual relationship but based on the amount of satisfaction of sexual desires. This manifests structural interchangeability of the emotions and pleasure as well as the irreplaceability of the lustrous appetite with affectionate service. In this regard, “inessential commonality” is believed to take place. In spite of this realization, individuals are not bound to be reduced in such actions because of the genuineness of love, applicable to all sexual orientations, that emanates in the discourse of love. Proofs on the purport that a “saving power” radiates in the premises of pornography's “danger” zone are also itemized.Less
“Mainstream” pornography constitutes the basic tension in “whateverbeing” such that lust is being equated to feelings of affection or, perhaps, that the completeness of the process of love is not according to the mutual relationship but based on the amount of satisfaction of sexual desires. This manifests structural interchangeability of the emotions and pleasure as well as the irreplaceability of the lustrous appetite with affectionate service. In this regard, “inessential commonality” is believed to take place. In spite of this realization, individuals are not bound to be reduced in such actions because of the genuineness of love, applicable to all sexual orientations, that emanates in the discourse of love. Proofs on the purport that a “saving power” radiates in the premises of pornography's “danger” zone are also itemized.
Talbot Brewer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198828310
- eISBN:
- 9780191867064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198828310.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
It is widely affirmed that human beings have irreplaceable valuable, and that we owe it to them to treat them accordingly. Many theorists have been drawn to Kantianism because they think that it ...
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It is widely affirmed that human beings have irreplaceable valuable, and that we owe it to them to treat them accordingly. Many theorists have been drawn to Kantianism because they think that it alone can capture this intuition. One aim of this paper is to show that this is a mistake, and that Kantianism cannot provide an independent rational vindication, nor even a fully illuminating articulation, of irreplaceability. A further aim is to outline a broadly Aristotelian view that provides a more fitting theoretical framework for this appealing conception of human value. The critique of Kantianism is extended to contemporary theorists with a broadly Kantian orientation. The paper closes with an outline of a virtue-theoretic ethical theory that follows Aquinas in taking love to be a master virtue—one that refines the other virtues so as to provide a continuous practical sensitivity to the irreplaceable value of fellow human beings.Less
It is widely affirmed that human beings have irreplaceable valuable, and that we owe it to them to treat them accordingly. Many theorists have been drawn to Kantianism because they think that it alone can capture this intuition. One aim of this paper is to show that this is a mistake, and that Kantianism cannot provide an independent rational vindication, nor even a fully illuminating articulation, of irreplaceability. A further aim is to outline a broadly Aristotelian view that provides a more fitting theoretical framework for this appealing conception of human value. The critique of Kantianism is extended to contemporary theorists with a broadly Kantian orientation. The paper closes with an outline of a virtue-theoretic ethical theory that follows Aquinas in taking love to be a master virtue—one that refines the other virtues so as to provide a continuous practical sensitivity to the irreplaceable value of fellow human beings.
Colin Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198809685
- eISBN:
- 9780191846953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198809685.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter illustrates the possibility of an epistemic answer to the “why be moral?” question, drawing on the views of Plato, William Wollaston, and Arthur Schopenhauer. The broad notion of an ...
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This chapter illustrates the possibility of an epistemic answer to the “why be moral?” question, drawing on the views of Plato, William Wollaston, and Arthur Schopenhauer. The broad notion of an epistemic good is introduced and clarified, along with a special property of some goods: irreplaceability. Along the way, the idea of epistemic goods other than test-passing propositional knowledge is introduced. As a result, it is claimed that an epistemic answer to the “why be moral?” question would identify some epistemic good that only paradigmatically morally good people have, and for which paradigmatically amoral people have no replacement or comparable compensation. Finally, one relevant paradigm of moral goodness is introduced: that of a compassionate agent.Less
This chapter illustrates the possibility of an epistemic answer to the “why be moral?” question, drawing on the views of Plato, William Wollaston, and Arthur Schopenhauer. The broad notion of an epistemic good is introduced and clarified, along with a special property of some goods: irreplaceability. Along the way, the idea of epistemic goods other than test-passing propositional knowledge is introduced. As a result, it is claimed that an epistemic answer to the “why be moral?” question would identify some epistemic good that only paradigmatically morally good people have, and for which paradigmatically amoral people have no replacement or comparable compensation. Finally, one relevant paradigm of moral goodness is introduced: that of a compassionate agent.
