Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework for Ethics

by Adams, Robert Merrihew

• ISBN13: 9780195153712
• ISBN10: 0195153715
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Renowned scholar Robert Adams explores the relation between religion and ethics through a comprehensive philosophical account of a theistically-based framework for ethics. Adams' framework begins with the good rather than the right, and with excellence rather than usefulness. He argues thatloving the excellent, of which adoring God is a clear example, is the most fundamental aspect of a life well lived. Developing his original and detailed theory, Adams contends that devotion, the sacred, grace, martyrdom, worship, vocation, faith, and other concepts drawn from religious ethics havebeen sorely overlooked in moral philosophy and can enrich the texture of ethical thought.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(10)
I THE NATURE OR THE GOOD
God as the Good	13	(37)
The Semantics and the Metaphysics of Value	15	(4)
Eros and the Good	19	(9)
God likeness	28	(10)
Varieties of Excellence	38	(4)
The Divine Nature	42	(8)
The Transcendence of the Good	50	(33)
The Holy	51	(7)
Naturalism	58	(4)
Empirical Testing, Explanation, and Value	62	(15)
Transcendence Vindicated	77	(6)
Well-being and Excellence	83	(19)
Well-Being and the Satisfaction of Desire	84	(9)
Well-Being as Enjoyment of the Excellent	93	(9)
The Sacred and the Bad	102	(29)
The Bad	102	(2)
Moral Horror	104	(3)
Violation	107	(5)
Images of God	112	(3)
The Value of Persons as Persons	115	(6)
Ontology	121	(3)
Defilement and Symbolic Violation	124	(7)
II LOVING THE GOOD
Eros	131	(19)
Can God Love Finite Things at Ail?	132	(4)
Benevolence and Self Interest	136	(3)
Eros and Self Interest	139	(2)
The Value of Love's Interest in Relationship	141	(5)
Impersonal Objects of Love	146	(4)
Grace	150	(27)
Love's Particularity	151	(7)
Love for Particular Universals	158	(2)
Reasons for Love	160	(11)
Hesed	171	(2)
Love's Universality	173	(4)
Devotion	177	(22)
The Ethics of Motives	177	(2)
The Fragmentation of Value	179	(3)
The Integration of Value	182	(3)
The Problem of Total Devotion	185	(2)
Love for the Good as Organizing Principle	187	(6)
Love as Enjoyment	193	(3)
Love as Alliance	196	(3)
Idolatry	199	(15)
Priorities	201	(4)
Need and Detachment	205	(4)
Misidentification	209	(5)
Symbolic Value	214	(17)
Martyrdom	214	(3)
The Moral Value of Symbolism	217	(3)
Eschatology and Ethics	220	(5)
Worship	225	(6)
III THE GOOD AND THE RIGHT
Obligation	231	(18)
Sanctions and the Semantics of Obligation	233	(5)
Guilt	238	(3)
Social Requirement	241	(8)
Divine Commands	249	(28)
Placing the Theory in Its Context	249	(3)
Divine Commands and the Role of Obligation	252	(6)
Divine Command and Divine Will	258	(4)
What Is a Divine Command?	262	(8)
Autonomy	270	(7)
Abraham's Dilemma	277	(15)
The Dilemma Stated	277	(3)
Can It Be Wrong to Obey God?	280	(4)
What Should We Believe about God's Commands?	284	(8)
Vocation	292	(26)
Singular Judgments in Ethics	294	(6)
A Conception of Vocation	300	(4)
Actuality and Goodness	304	(5)
Vocation and Selfhood	309	(5)
Vocation and Conflicting Values	314	(4)
Politics and the Good	318	(35)
Perfection and Equality	320	(4)
Civil Liberties	324	(8)
Church, State, and Culture	332	(8)
State Action to Protect and Promote the Good	340	(13)
IV THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF VALUE
Revelation of the Good	353	(20)
The Metaphysics and the Epistemology of Value	353	(3)
Evaluative Doxastic Practices	356	(7)
General Revelation	363	(3)
Special Revelation, Experience, and Change in Ethics	366	(7)
Moral Faith	373	(18)
Faith in Morality	374	(1)
Faith in Moral Ends	375	(5)
The Cognitive Aspect of Moral Faith	380	(4)
The Volitional Aspect of Moral Faith	384	(4)
The Emotional Aspect of Moral Faith	388	(3)
Bibliography	391	(10)
Index	401