JOHN E. HARE
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269571
- eISBN:
- 9780191683701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269571.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
This chapter examines attempts in naturalistic ethics to bridge the moral gap. These include the works of Donald Campbell, David Gauthier, and Allan Gibbard. These authors suggested bridging the ...
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This chapter examines attempts in naturalistic ethics to bridge the moral gap. These include the works of Donald Campbell, David Gauthier, and Allan Gibbard. These authors suggested bridging the moral gap through a scientific mediational normative ethics, in which both the moral gap is recognized and some non-theological substitute for God’s assistance is introduced to close it. In these cases what closes the moral gap is some machinery external to the agent’s will, which transforms egotists into useful members of society.Less
This chapter examines attempts in naturalistic ethics to bridge the moral gap. These include the works of Donald Campbell, David Gauthier, and Allan Gibbard. These authors suggested bridging the moral gap through a scientific mediational normative ethics, in which both the moral gap is recognized and some non-theological substitute for God’s assistance is introduced to close it. In these cases what closes the moral gap is some machinery external to the agent’s will, which transforms egotists into useful members of society.
James E. Fleming and Sanford Levinson (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814771228
- eISBN:
- 9780814737828
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814771228.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Can theories of evolution explain the development of our capacity for moral judgment and the content of morality itself? If bad behavior punished by the criminal law is attributable to physical ...
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Can theories of evolution explain the development of our capacity for moral judgment and the content of morality itself? If bad behavior punished by the criminal law is attributable to physical causes, rather than being intentional or voluntary as traditionally assumed, what are the implications for rethinking the criminal justice system? Is evolutionary theory and “nature talk,” at least as practiced to date, inherently conservative and resistant to progressive and feminist proposals for social changes to counter subordination and secure equality? This book addresses many of the philosophical, legal, and political issues raised by such questions. It examines the possibilities of a naturalistic ethics, the implications of behavioral morality for reform of the criminal law, the prospects for a biopolitical science, and the relationship between nature, culture, and social engineering.Less
Can theories of evolution explain the development of our capacity for moral judgment and the content of morality itself? If bad behavior punished by the criminal law is attributable to physical causes, rather than being intentional or voluntary as traditionally assumed, what are the implications for rethinking the criminal justice system? Is evolutionary theory and “nature talk,” at least as practiced to date, inherently conservative and resistant to progressive and feminist proposals for social changes to counter subordination and secure equality? This book addresses many of the philosophical, legal, and political issues raised by such questions. It examines the possibilities of a naturalistic ethics, the implications of behavioral morality for reform of the criminal law, the prospects for a biopolitical science, and the relationship between nature, culture, and social engineering.
Anindita Niyogi Balslev
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198089513
- eISBN:
- 9780199082575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089513.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter describes how the ancient Indian naturalists and modern Western naturalists share common philosophical assumptions, even though the evidence and support for their respective versions of ...
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This chapter describes how the ancient Indian naturalists and modern Western naturalists share common philosophical assumptions, even though the evidence and support for their respective versions of naturalistic views vary considerably. The internal differences among the Naturalists—Indian and Western—are also focussed upon.Less
This chapter describes how the ancient Indian naturalists and modern Western naturalists share common philosophical assumptions, even though the evidence and support for their respective versions of naturalistic views vary considerably. The internal differences among the Naturalists—Indian and Western—are also focussed upon.
T.J. Kasperbauer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190695811
- eISBN:
- 9780190695842
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190695811.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book provides an account of the moral psychology behind our attitudes to animals. Its main thesis is that behind both our positive and negative attitudes to animals is an underlying concern that ...
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This book provides an account of the moral psychology behind our attitudes to animals. Its main thesis is that behind both our positive and negative attitudes to animals is an underlying concern that animals pose a threat to our humanness. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from research in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, law, history, sociology, economics, and anthropology. The main thesis of the book is developed by looking at recent research on the phenomenon of dehumanization. Though dehumanization research is often applied only to human groups, it is argued that dehumanization also has implications for how we think about animals. The book provides a critical survey of leading theories about the role of animals in human evolutionary history, the psychology of meat-eating and keeping animals as pets, feelings of fear and disgust toward animals, the use of animal minds to determine their moral status, and the “expanding moral circle” hypothesis. Strategies are also offered for revising our attitudes toward animals and for thinking about the implications of psychological obstacles in meeting our moral obligations to animals. Chapters 2–5 present a new picture of the moral psychology behind our attitudes to animals. Chapters 6–8 lay out an account of how we should think about ethical issues concerning animals, given the psychological details provided in chapters 2–5.Less
This book provides an account of the moral psychology behind our attitudes to animals. Its main thesis is that behind both our positive and negative attitudes to animals is an underlying concern that animals pose a threat to our humanness. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from research in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, law, history, sociology, economics, and anthropology. The main thesis of the book is developed by looking at recent research on the phenomenon of dehumanization. Though dehumanization research is often applied only to human groups, it is argued that dehumanization also has implications for how we think about animals. The book provides a critical survey of leading theories about the role of animals in human evolutionary history, the psychology of meat-eating and keeping animals as pets, feelings of fear and disgust toward animals, the use of animal minds to determine their moral status, and the “expanding moral circle” hypothesis. Strategies are also offered for revising our attitudes toward animals and for thinking about the implications of psychological obstacles in meeting our moral obligations to animals. Chapters 2–5 present a new picture of the moral psychology behind our attitudes to animals. Chapters 6–8 lay out an account of how we should think about ethical issues concerning animals, given the psychological details provided in chapters 2–5.
James Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198748090
- eISBN:
- 9780191813481
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198748090.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter analyses David Hume’s naturalistic ethics. Hume was the best of the eighteenth-century Newtonizers who sought to turn ethics into a purely empirical, value-neutral psychology, which had ...
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This chapter analyses David Hume’s naturalistic ethics. Hume was the best of the eighteenth-century Newtonizers who sought to turn ethics into a purely empirical, value-neutral psychology, which had ‘little or no influence on practice’. Hume’s psychology is as follows: Our passions are grounded in pleasure and pain. Our basic instinct is to ‘unite’ with pleasure and to avoid pain. Desires arise from the prospect of pleasure, aversion from the prospect of pain. When our beliefs about the prospect of pleasure or pain change, so may our desires.Less
This chapter analyses David Hume’s naturalistic ethics. Hume was the best of the eighteenth-century Newtonizers who sought to turn ethics into a purely empirical, value-neutral psychology, which had ‘little or no influence on practice’. Hume’s psychology is as follows: Our passions are grounded in pleasure and pain. Our basic instinct is to ‘unite’ with pleasure and to avoid pain. Desires arise from the prospect of pleasure, aversion from the prospect of pain. When our beliefs about the prospect of pleasure or pain change, so may our desires.
