The Quest for Moral Foundations

by Brown, Montague

• ISBN13: 9780878406135
• ISBN10: 0878406131
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-05-01
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

This concise introduction examines a wide range of ethical positions, including relativism, emotivism, egoism, utilitarianism, Kantian formalism, and natural law.

Table of Contents

Preface
Anything Goes: Relativism	p. 1
Religion and Ethics	p. 2
Cultural Relativism	p. 4
Historical Relativism	p. 5
Implications of Groups	p. 7
Subjective Relativism	p. 9
Theoretical vs. Moral Relativism	p. 10
Moral Responsibility	p. 21
Do What You Feel: Emotivism	p. 23
Emotivism According to Hume	p. 24
Later Development of Emotivism	p. 31
Summary	p. 33
Me First: Egoism and the Social Contract	p. 35
Social Contract Theory	p. 37
Social Contract Morality Since Hobbes	p. 43
Conclusions	p. 48
All's Well That Ends Well: Utilitarianism	p. 50
Pleasure, Pain, and Morality	p. 50
Utilitarianism of J. S. Mill	p. 56
Rule Utilitarianism	p. 60
Scientific Approach	p. 62
Foundation for Moral Judgment	p. 64
Conclusions About Pleasure/Pain Theories	p. 65
Duty Calls: Kant's Formalism	p. 68
Kant's Reevaluation of Reason	p. 68
Determinism or Freedom	p. 81
Practical Reason	p. 84
Do Good and Avoid Evil: Natural Law	p. 87
Comparison with Other Theories	p. 89
Moral Responsibility	p. 96
Relationships Among Traditions	p. 100
Synthesis of Cicero	p. 106
Freedom and Natural Law	p. 108
Retrospective and Reevaluation	p. 115
Utilitarian Theory	p. 115
Social Contract Theory	p. 119
Egoism	p. 120
Emotivism	p. 120
Relativism	p. 121
Natural Law and Pluralism	p. 123
Historicism	p. 127
Conclusions	p. 133
Ethics and Religion Revisited	p. 134
Ethics Derived from Religion	p. 134
Religion as an Ethical Obligation	p. 135
Moral Importance of Religion	p. 140
Epilogue: To Care or Not to Care	p. 142
Notes	p. 147
Index	p. 165
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.