Right Actions and Good Persons
Controversies Between Eudaimonistic and Deontic Moral Theories
Marjaana Kopperi(Author)
Ashgate Publishing Limited
Published on 27. April 1999
Book
Hardback
140 pages
978-1-84014-902-9 (ISBN)
Description
Deals with the contemporary ethical controversy between the "agent-centred" and "act-centred" approaches to moral theory. It discusses whether moral theory should focus on the good life of the agent or whether it should provide the criterion for right actions. The aim of the book is to examine whether an agent-centred approach of some kind can provide an acceptable alternative to the act-centred ones that have long dominated the discussion. To do this, it analyzes the argumentation of influential advocates of this view such as Martha Nussbaum and Charles Taylor. On the basis of this analysis, it is concluded that the promoters of the agent-centred view fail to provide such an alternative. the book also defends the act-centred approach by showing that when properly understood and clearly defined, it can still offer a justifiable account of morality.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
bibliography, index of names
Dimensions
Height: 157 mm
Width: 224 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84014-902-9 (9781840149029)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Part 1 Morality in ancient and modern theories: the good and the moral good; morality and happiness in modern ethics; prudence and morality in ancient ethics; the good of others in ancient ethics; the notion of respect; the teleological view of human nature; human nature as a basis of modern moral theory. Part 2 Ethics and the good life: the cultivation of character as a prerequisite for morality; the necessary conditions of the good life; basic goods and the good life; Charles Taylor and the ethics of inarticulacy; the ethics of authenticity; morality and substantive conceptions of the good. Part 3 Contextual justification of morality: John Rawls's political liberalism; the scope and justification of liberal doctrine; from metaphysics to rhetoric - a rhetorical turn; comprehensive and partial forms of liberal doctrine; from principles of right to the conception of the good - a teleological turn; Rawls as a modus vivendi liberal?; ethics without metaphysics; rhetoric, metaphysics and modus vivendi-liberalism. Part 4 Moral obligation and the meaningful life: why distinguish between basic goods and the conceptions of the good life?; my life and the good of others; acts and agents.