Dimensions of Moral Theory An Introduction to Metaethics and Moral Psychology

by Jacobs, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780631229636
• ISBN10: 0631229639
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-20
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Dimensions of Moral Theory examines the key presuppositions and philosophical commitments that support and shape moral theories. Many of the topics discussed belong to "metaethics," the study of moral concepts, language, and thought rather than a study of moral issues themselves. Other topics are under the heading of "moral psychology" and concern fundamental issues about the nature of moral agents, moral motivation, and the roles of reason, desire, and pleasure in moral action and experience. The book introduces metaethical and moral psychological positions and arguments and shows how they are generated and why they are important. It thereby brings to light some of the most important philosophical problems raised by moral theorizing. This volume formulates these issues of moral epistemology, the metaphysics of moral value, and moral motivation in a clear and rigorous but non-technical manner.

Author Biography

Jonathan Jacobs is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Colgate University. He is author of Practical Realism and Moral Psychology (1995), A Philosopher's Compass (2001), and Choosing Character: Responsibility for Virtue and Vice (2001).

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Acknowledgments	xiii
Objectivity and Subjectivity	1	(41)
Interpretations of Objectivity	2	(11)
Monism and Pluralism	13	(4)
This Way to Subjectivism	17	(6)
Subjectivity and Sentiment	23	(3)
Subjectivism and Skepticism	26	(7)
Relativism	33	(5)
Where Now?	38	(1)
Questions for Discussion and Reflection	39	(1)
Thinkers and Their Works, and Further Reading	39	(1)
Notes	40	(2)
Moral Theory and Moral Psychology	42	(32)
Moral Motivation	42	(8)
Virtue and Motivation	50	(2)
Self-interest and Morality	52	(7)
What about Luck?	59	(7)
Are Moral Considerations Overriding?	66	(4)
Where Now?	70	(2)
Questions for Discussion and Reflection	71	(1)
Thinkers and Their Works, and Further Reading	72	(1)
Notes	72	(2)
Forms of Moral Theory	74	(36)
Consequentialism	75	(5)
Kantian Non-consequentialism	80	(5)
Intuitionist Non-consequentialism	85	(5)
The Virtue-centered Approach	90	(7)
Contractarianism	97	(5)
Theories, Duties, and Metaethics	102	(3)
Where Now?	105	(1)
Questions for Discussion and Reflection	106	(1)
Thinkers and Their Works, and Further Reading	106	(1)
Notes	107	(3)
Naturalism and Non-naturalism	110	(43)
Naturalism	111	(3)
The Modern Debate about Naturalism	114	(4)
Reconstructed Naturalism	118	(2)
Non-cognitivist Alternatives	120	(6)
Hume and Naturalism	126	(2)
Reconnecting Facts and Values	128	(6)
Aristotle and Naturalism	134	(4)
Moral Facts and Explanation	138	(4)
What about God?	142	(6)
Where Now?	148	(1)
Questions for Discussion and Reflection	149	(1)
Thinkers and Their Works, and Further Reading	149	(1)
Notes	150	(3)
Conclusion	153	(3)
Glossary	156	(6)
Bibliography	162	(4)
Index	166