
The Ethics of Social Roles
Oxford University Press
Published on 16. March 2023
Book
Hardback
346 pages
978-0-19-284356-2 (ISBN)
Description
The various social roles we occupy, such as teacher, parent, or friend, shape our ethical lives and colour our perceptions of each other and ourselves. Social roles have long been a central topic in sociology, and specific social roles frequently feature within applied moral philosophy and professional ethics. In striking contrast, the normative significance of social roles per se--the 'ethics of social roles' as a distinct field of philosophical enquiry--has been relatively neglected. Indeed, the view that social roles have genuine ethical bite is often tacitly dismissed as socially regressive, as if the pull of a social role must always be towards 'knowing one's place'. The present collection aims to change this by putting social roles back where they belong: at the centre of normative ethics.
After an editors' introduction aimed at readers new to the topic, fourteen original chapters by an international line-up of new and established authors show how the topic of social roles is a kind of missing link between several better-established topics, including collective agency, special obligations, wellbeing, and social and political justice. These contributions are organized into four parts. The first looks at the topic through a historical lens, since philosophers have not always neglected social roles. The second addresses the source of the apparent normative force of social roles. The third examines the relation of a social role's normativity to its wider institutional context. The fourth looks at implications for self and wellbeing.
After an editors' introduction aimed at readers new to the topic, fourteen original chapters by an international line-up of new and established authors show how the topic of social roles is a kind of missing link between several better-established topics, including collective agency, special obligations, wellbeing, and social and political justice. These contributions are organized into four parts. The first looks at the topic through a historical lens, since philosophers have not always neglected social roles. The second addresses the source of the apparent normative force of social roles. The third examines the relation of a social role's normativity to its wider institutional context. The fourth looks at implications for self and wellbeing.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-284356-2 (9780192843562)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Alex Barber | Sean Cordell
The Ethics of Social Roles
E-Book
03/2023
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€55.49
Available for download

Alex Barber | Sean Cordell
The Ethics of Social Roles
E-Book
02/2023
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€55.49
Available for download
Persons
Sean Cordell received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Sheffield, and has since held posts at Sheffield, the University of Birmingham, and the Open University where he is currently Staff Tutor and Senior Lecturer. His research has developed from an in initial interest in neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics to include the nature of social institutions, their virtues and vices, and the roles they determine for individual agents.
Alex Barber received his doctorate from McGill University, Canada and currently Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University, UK. He has cross disciplinary research interests, and within philosophy works mainly on ethical and political philosophy, especially on topics where his expertise in the philosophy of language and linguistics can be brought to bear.
Alex Barber received his doctorate from McGill University, Canada and currently Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University, UK. He has cross disciplinary research interests, and within philosophy works mainly on ethical and political philosophy, especially on topics where his expertise in the philosophy of language and linguistics can be brought to bear.
Content
1: Alex Barber and Sean Cordell: An Overview of Social Roles and their Ethics
PART ONE: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
2: Sophie Grace Chappell: Tempted Like Achilles: Reflections on Roles and Role-Recalcitrance in Ancient and Modern Ethics
3: Jing Iris Hu: Roles and Virtues: Which is More Important for Confucian Women?
4: John Simons: John Dewey s Analysis of Moral Agency as Pragmatist Role Ethics
5: Robert Stern: A Good Doctor but a Bad Person? A Puzzle for Role Ethics from Logstrup
PART TWO: THE NATURE AND NORMATIVITY OF ROLES
6: Erin Taylor: All Together Now: When Is a Role Obligation Morally Binding?
7: Tracy Isaacs: The Part We Play: Social Group Membership as a Role
8: Reid Blackman: Explaining Role-Based Reasons
PART THREE: ROLES, INSTITUTIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS
9: Sean Cordell: Role Ethics and the Functions of Institutions
10: Stephanie Collins: Role Obligations to Alter Role Obligations
11: Diane Jeske: Are the Obligations of Friendship Role Obligations?
12: Thomas H. Smith: My Job and its Requirements
PART FOUR: WELLBEING, SELFHOOD, AND ROLES
13: Samuel Clark: Three Relations between Roles and the Good
14: Alex Barber: Participatory Wellbeing and Roles
15: Luke Brunning: Virtuous Chameleons: Social Roles, Integrity, and the Value of Compartmentalisation
PART ONE: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
2: Sophie Grace Chappell: Tempted Like Achilles: Reflections on Roles and Role-Recalcitrance in Ancient and Modern Ethics
3: Jing Iris Hu: Roles and Virtues: Which is More Important for Confucian Women?
4: John Simons: John Dewey s Analysis of Moral Agency as Pragmatist Role Ethics
5: Robert Stern: A Good Doctor but a Bad Person? A Puzzle for Role Ethics from Logstrup
PART TWO: THE NATURE AND NORMATIVITY OF ROLES
6: Erin Taylor: All Together Now: When Is a Role Obligation Morally Binding?
7: Tracy Isaacs: The Part We Play: Social Group Membership as a Role
8: Reid Blackman: Explaining Role-Based Reasons
PART THREE: ROLES, INSTITUTIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS
9: Sean Cordell: Role Ethics and the Functions of Institutions
10: Stephanie Collins: Role Obligations to Alter Role Obligations
11: Diane Jeske: Are the Obligations of Friendship Role Obligations?
12: Thomas H. Smith: My Job and its Requirements
PART FOUR: WELLBEING, SELFHOOD, AND ROLES
13: Samuel Clark: Three Relations between Roles and the Good
14: Alex Barber: Participatory Wellbeing and Roles
15: Luke Brunning: Virtuous Chameleons: Social Roles, Integrity, and the Value of Compartmentalisation