The Foundations Of Natural Morality

Author : S. Adam Seagrave
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022612357X
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Foundations of Natural Morality written by S. Adam Seagrave and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a renaissance of interest in the relationship between natural law and natural rights. During this time, the concept of natural rights has served as a conceptual lightning rod, either strengthening or severing the bond between traditional natural law and contemporary human rights. Does the concept of natural rights have the natural law as its foundation or are the two ideas, as Leo Strauss argued, profoundly incompatible? With The Foundations of Natural Morality, S. Adam Seagrave addresses this controversy, offering an entirely new account of natural morality that compellingly unites the concepts of natural law and natural rights. Seagrave agrees with Strauss that the idea of natural rights is distinctly modern and does not derive from traditional natural law. Despite their historical distinctness, however, he argues that the two ideas are profoundly compatible and that the thought of John Locke and Thomas Aquinas provides the key to reconciling the two sides of this long-standing debate. In doing so, he lays out a coherent concept of natural morality that brings together thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to Hobbes and Locke, revealing the insights contained within these disparate accounts as well as their incompleteness when considered in isolation. Finally, he turns to an examination of contemporary issues, including health care, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty, showing how this new account of morality can open up a more fruitful debate.

Author : Craig A. Boyd
Publisher : Baker Books
ISBN 13 : 9781585585090
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Shared Morality written by Craig A. Boyd and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Morality based on natural law has a long tradition, and has proven to be quite resilient in the face of numerous attacks and challenges over the years. Those challenges are no less serious today, which leads one to ask if natural law is still a viable foundation for ethics. Craig Boyd provides a contemporary defense of natural law theory against modern challenges from the arenas of science, religion, culture, and philosophy. In his analysis, he defends many of the classical elements of natural law, but also takes into account the contributions of scientific discoveries about human nature. He concludes that natural law is a necessary but not sufficient basis for ethics that must be accompanied by a theory of virtue.

Author : Alberto M. Piedra
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739158074
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Law written by Alberto M. Piedra and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2004-11-20 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Alberto M. Piedra lucidly illustrates the notion of 'natural law' through the examination of economic, social, political, and cultural issues. In this work Piedra draws on classical and Christian sources as well as his personal experience as an economist, diplomat, and lecturer on world politics to address philosophical views in a constructive and morally guided exegesis of natural law and economics. This innovative book shows the value of appeals to a governing, natural law and attendant principles such as the common good, subsidiarity, hierarchy, spiritual welfare, the reciprocity of freedom and authority, and the cultivation of personal moral and intellectual virtue. Natural Law will appeal to scholars, professionals, and others interested in the cultivation of personal moral and intellectual virtue.

Author : Edmund Wall
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1498503012
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Foundation for a Natural Morality written by Edmund Wall and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few philosophers attempt to establish that there is an evaluative and moral realm. They make these major assumptions without argument. This plays into the hands of moral nihilists and certain other moral skeptics. A major obstacle that prevents philosophers from developing such arguments is the long-standing view that one cannot derive an “ought” from an “is,” that is, one cannot begin with purely descriptive non-evaluative propositions and deduce an evaluative or moral proposition. In this book, Edmund Wall develops arguments for evaluative and moral principles. His deductive reasoning begins with certain purely descriptive and non-evaluative propositions concerning human nature, establishing a basic moral principle of human life and a basic moral principle of knowledge. By providing such deductive arguments for basic moral principles, Wall makes considerable progress in establishing a sure foundation for morality. He further develops his case by responding to a plethora of anticipated objections against his two arguments, and by delineating the advantages of his own moral approach over a number of influential moral theories and competing accounts of moral reasoning.

Author : James Edward John Altham
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521479301
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book World, Mind, and Ethics written by James Edward John Altham and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1995-04-06 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguished international team of philosophers offer responses to the work of Bernard Williams, followed by the author's reply.

Author : Henry Hazlitt
Publisher : Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN 13 : 9781480011816
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Foundations of Morality written by Henry Hazlitt and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LARGE PRINT EDITION! More at LargePrintLiberty.com Here is Hazlitt's major philosophical work, in which he grounds a policy of private property and free markets in an ethic of classical utilitarianism, understood in the way Mises understood that term. In writing this book, Hazlitt is reviving an 18th and 19th century tradition in which economists wrote not only about strictly economic issues but also on the relationship between economics and the good of society in general. Adam Smith wrote a moral treatise because he knew that many objections to markets are rooted in these concerns. Hazlitt takes up the cause too, and with spectacular results. Hazlitt favors an ethic that seeks the long run general happiness and flourishing of all. Action, institutions, rules, principles, customs, ideals, and all the rest stand or fall according to the test of whether they permit people to live together peaceably to their mutual advantage. Critical here is an understanding of the core classical liberal claim that the interests of the individual and that of society in general are not antagonistic but wholly compatible and co-determinous. In pushing for "rules-utilitarianism," Hazlitt is aware that he is adopting an ethic that is largely rejected in our time, even by the bulk of the liberal tradition. But he makes the strongest case possible, and you will certainly be challenged at every turn.

Author : Alfonso Gomez-Lobo
Publisher : Georgetown University Press
ISBN 13 : 0878408851
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Morality and the Human Goods written by Alfonso Gomez-Lobo and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise and accessible introduction to natural law ethics, this book introduces readers to the mainstream tradition of Western moral philosophy. Building on philosophers from Plato through Aquinas to John Finnis, Alfonso Gómez-Lobo links morality to the protection of basic human goods--life, family, friendship, work and play, the experience of beauty, knowledge, and integrity--elements essential to a flourishing, happy human life. Gómez-Lobo begins with a discussion of Plato's Crito as an introduction to the practice of moral philosophy, showing that it requires that its participants treat each other as equals and offer rational arguments to persuade each other. He then puts forth a general principle for practical rationality: one should pursue what is good and avoid what is bad. The human goods form the basis for moral norms that provide a standard by which actions can be evaluated: do they support or harm the human goods? He argues that moral norms should be understood as a system of rules whose rationale is the protection and enhancement of human goods. A moral norm that does not enjoin the preservation or enhancement of a specific good is unjustifiable. Shifting to a case study approach, Gómez-Lobo applies these principles to a discussion of abortion and euthanasia. The book ends with a brief treatment of rival positions, including utilitarianism and libertarianism, and of conscience as our ultimate moral guide. Written as an introductory text for students of ethics and natural law, Morality and the Human Goods makes arguments consistent with Catholic teaching but is not based on theological considerations. The work falls squarely within the field of philosophical ethics and will be of interest to readers of any background.

Author : Richard Joyce
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262263254
Total Pages : 285 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Evolution of Morality written by Richard Joyce and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2007-08-24 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moral thinking pervades our practical lives, but where did this way of thinking come from, and what purpose does it serve? Is it to be explained by environmental pressures on our ancestors a million years ago, or is it a cultural invention of more recent origin? In The Evolution of Morality, Richard Joyce takes up these controversial questions, finding that the evidence supports an innate basis to human morality. As a moral philosopher, Joyce is interested in whether any implications follow from this hypothesis. Might the fact that the human brain has been biologically prepared by natural selection to engage in moral judgment serve in some sense to vindicate this way of thinking—staving off the threat of moral skepticism, or even undergirding some version of moral realism? Or if morality has an adaptive explanation in genetic terms—if it is, as Joyce writes, "just something that helped our ancestors make more babies"—might such an explanation actually undermine morality's central role in our lives? He carefully examines both the evolutionary "vindication of morality" and the evolutionary "debunking of morality," considering the skeptical view more seriously than have others who have treated the subject. Interdisciplinary and combining the latest results from the empirical sciences with philosophical discussion, The Evolution of Morality is one of the few books in this area written from the perspective of moral philosophy. Concise and without technical jargon, the arguments are rigorous but accessible to readers from different academic backgrounds. Joyce discusses complex issues in plain language while advocating subtle and sometimes radical views. The Evolution of Morality lays the philosophical foundations for further research into the biological understanding of human morality.

Author : Jonathan Haidt
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307455777
Total Pages : 530 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Righteous Mind written by Jonathan Haidt and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review). Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.

Author : Robert P. George
Publisher : Georgetown University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781589013803
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.08/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Law and Moral Inquiry written by Robert P. George and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 1998-03-01 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Germain Grisez has been a leading voice in moral philosophy and theology since the Second Vatican Council. In this book, such major thinkers as John Finnis, Ralph McInerny, and William E. May consider issues in ethics, metaphysics, and politics that have been central to Grisez's work. Grisez's reconsideration of the philosophical foundations of Christian moral teaching, seeking to eliminate both legalistic interpretation and theological dissent, has won the support of a number of leading Catholic moralists. In the past decade, moreover, many philosophers outside of Catholicism have weighed carefully Grisez's alternatives to theories that have long dominated secular moral philosophy. This book presents a broad spectrum of viewpoints on subjects ranging from contraception to capital punishment and considers such controversies as the scriptural basis of Grisez's work his interpretations of Aquinas, and his new natural law theory. The collection includes not only contributions from Grisez's supporters but also from critics of his thought, from proportionalist Edward Collins Vacek, SJ, to the neo-Thomist Ralph McInerny. A reply by Grisez, written with Joseph M. Boyle Jr., addresses the issues and viewpoints expressed, while an afterword by Russell Shaw reviews Grisez's pioneering work and conveys a vivid sense of the philosopher's personality. As Grisez's influence grows, this volume will serve as an important touchstone on his contributions to moral and political philosophy and theology.