Ethics without Morals: In Defence of Amorality

by Marks; Joel

• ISBN13: 9780415635561
• ISBN10: 041563556X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-24
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Ethics without Moralsoffers a defense of amorality as both philosophically justified and practicably livable. In so doing the book extends the contemporary debate about atheism to cover morals. Here Marks argues that "new atheists" such as Louise Antony, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Greg Epstein, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens have been too complacent in retaining their embrace of morality. He seeks to build a positive case for a desire-based ethics to replace morality, both theoretically and practically. The book begins with an analysis of what morality is and then argues that the concept is not instantiated in reality. Following this, the question of beliefin morality is addressed: How would human life be affected by accepting that morality does not exist? Marks argues that at the very least a moralist would have little to complain about in an amoral world, and at best we might hope for a world that was more to our liking overall. An extended look at the human encounter with nonhuman animals serves as an illustration of amorality's potential to make both theoretical and practical headway in resolving heretofore intractable ethical problems.