
Me, You, Us
Essays
George Sher(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 21. September 2017
Book
Hardback
216 pages
978-0-19-066041-3 (ISBN)
Description
The essays in Me, You, Us address a range of issues in moral philosophy, political philosophy, and moral psychology, but are unified by their starkly individualistic view of the moral subject. That view regards persons as permanently separated from others by the impenetrability of their subjectivities, and hence as the sole ultimate bearers of both interests and responsibility. Because they are organized around a strong form of moral individualism, the essays challenge recent tendencies to conceptualize normative issues in terms of relationships, collectivities, and social meanings.
Of the twelve essays in the collection, the ones on ethics and metaethics deal with questions about the nature of moral standing, the basis of our moral equality, and the justification of the common practice of assigning greater weight to one's own interests than to the interests of others. The essays in political philosophy discuss both the ways in which the wider society does and does not penetrate the individual self and the recent influential attempt to redirect our thinking about justice from the distribution of goods to the relations of domination and subordination that obtain among individuals. The essays in moral psychology criticize some relational accounts of responsibility and blame, and address the complicated relation between what a person knows and what he is responsible and blameworthy for. Three of the collection's essays have not been previously published.
Of the twelve essays in the collection, the ones on ethics and metaethics deal with questions about the nature of moral standing, the basis of our moral equality, and the justification of the common practice of assigning greater weight to one's own interests than to the interests of others. The essays in political philosophy discuss both the ways in which the wider society does and does not penetrate the individual self and the recent influential attempt to redirect our thinking about justice from the distribution of goods to the relations of domination and subordination that obtain among individuals. The essays in moral psychology criticize some relational accounts of responsibility and blame, and address the complicated relation between what a person knows and what he is responsible and blameworthy for. Three of the collection's essays have not been previously published.
Reviews / Votes
The eleven essays in this collection (three previously unpublished) cover a vast swath of territory including normative ethics, metaethics, political philosophy, moral responsibility, meta-philosophy, and even a light-hearted contribution to professional ethics... I note that the final essay, "Global Norming," is one of the funniest things I have read of late. I read this on the airplane and literally laughed out loud multiple times. But behind the humour is a serious commentary on a dilemma that we all face as teachers and letter-writers, that of balancing the duty of veracity with our obligation to place our students. It should be required reading for anyone whose job description includes writing letters of recommendation. * Evan Tiffany, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
487 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-066041-3 (9780190660413)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions


Person
George Sher is a professor of Philosophy at Rice University and the author of Who Knew?, In Praise of Blame, and Equality for Inegalitarians.
Content
1. Introduction: Ethics from the Inside Out
2. We're Number One
3. Why We Are Moral Equals
4. What Is Moral Standing?
5. Three Grades of Social Involvement
6. How Bad Is It to Be Dominated?
7. Other Voices, Other Rooms: Women's Psychology and Moral Theory
8. Wrongdoing and Relationships: The Problem of the Stranger
9. Responsibility, Conversation, and Communication
10. Blame and Moral Ignorance
11. But I Could Be Wrong
12. Global Norming: an Inconvenient Truth
2. We're Number One
3. Why We Are Moral Equals
4. What Is Moral Standing?
5. Three Grades of Social Involvement
6. How Bad Is It to Be Dominated?
7. Other Voices, Other Rooms: Women's Psychology and Moral Theory
8. Wrongdoing and Relationships: The Problem of the Stranger
9. Responsibility, Conversation, and Communication
10. Blame and Moral Ignorance
11. But I Could Be Wrong
12. Global Norming: an Inconvenient Truth