Toward Better Problems

by Weston, Anthony

• ISBN13: 9780877229483
• ISBN10: 0877229481
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-08-06
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

In Toward Better Problems, Anthony Weston develops a pragmatic approach to the pressing moral issues of our time. Weston seeks to address practical problems in the spirit of John Dewey: that is, by focusing on specific human concerns and multiple, overlapping values rather than on abstract philosophical principles. Weston showcases his method in sustained discussion of four highly controversial areas: abortion, animal rights, environmentalism, and justice.Weston takes up uncomfortable issues, such as how we raise food animals; test medicines, cosmetics, and chemicals on animals; and justify speciesism. He engages philosophically the treatment of land and seas as limitless garbage dumps, the creation of radioactive wastes and their disposal, and fundamental problems of social justice. But Weston's aim is not to "solve" such problems as if they were some kind of puzzle. The aim instead is to creatively transform such problematic situations into something more promising and tractable, thereby leaving us with "better problems." Author note: Anthony Weston teaches Philosophy at State University of New York, Stony Brook and is the author of A Rulebook for Arguments.

Author Biography

Anthony Weston teaches Philosophy at State University of New York, Stony Brook and is the author of A Rulebook for Arguments.

Table of Contents

Preface
Practical Ethics in a New Key	p. 1
Pragmatic Attitudes	p. 9
From Puzzles to Problematic Situations	p. 12
Reconstructive Strategies	p. 22
Integrative Strategies	p. 28
Rethinking the Abortion Debate	p. 37
Against Drawing Lines	p. 39
Multiple Relevant Values	p. 47
Deciding the Question: An Integrative Approach	p. 53
Social Reconstruction and the Abortion Debate	p. 60
Other Animals	p. 69
"Speciesism"	p. 71
Outlines of an Integrative Approach	p. 77
Reconstructing the Human Relation to Other Animals	p. 89
The Environment	p. 99
The Need for Environmental Ethics	p. 101
"Intrinsic Values" in Nature?	p. 107
Integrating Environmental Values: Toward an Ecology of Values	p. 114
Reconstruction in Environmental Ethics	p. 124
Justice	p. 133
Justice in Problematic Situations: Between the Prevailing Paradigms	p. 135
Some Integrative Methods	p. 148
A Reconstructive View: Beyond the Justice Debate	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 165
The Question of Critical Standpoint	p. 167
The Question of Optimism	p. 174
Notes	p. 183
Index	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program

Currently unavailable