Pragmatist Ethics

Pragmatist Ethics
Author: James Jakób Liszka
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2021-11-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438485891

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Grounded in American pragmatism, Pragmatist Ethics proposes a rethinking of ethics. Rather than looking to the good—a concept for which consensus is difficult to achieve—pragmatists instead advocate for tending to the problems of the day. James Jakób Liszka examines how daily practices and institutions are originally conceived and then evolve to solve certain problems, and that their failure to do so is the source of most problems. Liszka argues that the ethical goal, therefore, is to improve upon these practices and that the sort of practical reasoning that characterizes practices can be enhanced by a more scientific, empirical approach. But how do we know when changes to practices and institutions are progressive? Problems will plague the best of communities; the better community is the one that succeeds best at solving its problems. Pragmatist Ethics examines various accounts of improvement and progress, concluding that the problem-solving effectiveness of communities is the key to progressive changes.

Pragmatist Ethics for a Technological Culture

Pragmatist Ethics for a Technological Culture
Author: F.W. Jozef Keulartz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9401003017

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Our technological culture has an extremely dynamic character: old ways of reproducing ourselves, managing nature and keeping animals are continually replaced by new ones; norms and values with respect to our bodies, food production, health care and environmental protection are regularly being put up for discussion. This constantly confronts us with new moral problems and dilemmas. In discussion with other approaches this book argues that pragmatism, with its strong emphasis on the interaction between technology and values, gives us both procedural help and stresses the importance of living and cooperating together in tackling these problems and dilemmas. The issues in this book include the interaction of technology and ethics, the status of pragmatism, the concept of practice, and discourse ethics and deliberative democracy. It has an interactive design, with original contributions alternating with critical comments. The book is of interest for students, scholars and policymakers in the fields of bioethics, animal ethics, environmental ethics, pragmatist philosophy and science and technology studies.

Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics

Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics
Author: Diana Heney
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2016-05-20
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317280369

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In our current social landscape, moral questions—about economic disparity, disadvantaging biases, and scarcity—are rightly receiving attention with a sense of urgency. This book argues that classical pragmatism offers a compelling and useful account of our engagement with moral life. The key arguments are first, that a broader reading of the pragmatist tradition than is usually attempted within the context of ethical theory is necessary; and second, that this broad reading offers resources that enable us to move forward in contemporary debates about truth and principles in moral life. The first argument is made by demonstrating that there is an arc of theoretical unity that stretches from two key founders of pragmatism—Charles Sanders Peirce and William James—through the work of John Dewey and Clarence Irving Lewis. The second argument is made by engaging with contemporary debates concerning the truth-status of the judgments and assertions made in ordinary moral discourse, as well as the role and nature of moral principles. Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics will be of interest to scholars of American philosophy, American intellectual history, and moral and political theorists, as well as anyone interested in the contours and demands of shared moral discourse.

John Dewey and Moral Imagination

John Dewey and Moral Imagination
Author: Steven Fesmire
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2003-09-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0253110661

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While examining the important role of imagination in making moral judgments, John Dewey and Moral Imagination focuses new attention on the relationship between American pragmatism and ethics. Steven Fesmire takes up threads of Dewey's thought that have been largely unexplored and elaborates pragmatism's distinctive contribution to understandings of moral experience, inquiry, and judgment. Building on two Deweyan notions -- that moral character, belief, and reasoning are part of a social and historical context and that moral deliberation is an imaginative, dramatic rehearsal of possibilities -- Fesmire shows that moral imagination can be conceived as a process of aesthetic perception and artistic creativity. Fesmire's original readings of Dewey shed new light on the imaginative process, human emotional make-up and expression, and the nature of moral judgment. This original book presents a robust and distinctly pragmatic approach to ethics, politics, moral education, and moral conduct.

Plato’s Pragmatism

Plato’s Pragmatism
Author: Nicholas R. Baima
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2020-12-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1000320030

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Plato’s Pragmatism offers the first comprehensive defense of a pragmatist reading of Plato. According to Plato, the ultimate rational goal is not to accumulate knowledge and avoid falsehood but rather to live an excellent human life. The book contends that a pragmatic outlook is present throughout the Platonic corpus. The authors argue that the successful pursuit of a good life requires cultivating certain ethical commitments, and that maintaining these commitments often requires violating epistemic norms. In the course of defending the pragmatist interpretation, the authors present a forceful Platonic argument for the conclusion that the value of truth has its limits, and that what matters most are one’s ethical commitments and the courage to live up to them. Their interpretation has far-reaching consequences in that it reshapes how we understand the relationship between Plato’s ethics and epistemology. Plato’s Pragmatism will appeal to scholars and advanced students of Plato and ancient philosophy. It will also be of interest to those working on current controversies in ethics and epistemology

Community As Healing

Community As Healing
Author: Micah D. Hester
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2001-07-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0742574415

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Starting from the insights of classical American pragmatism, this book argues for a higher notion of the relationship between individuals and their communities. This newly enriched notion supports a more participatory engagement between physicians and patients which takes ethical medicine to be a community of healing enjoyed by health care professionals and those they care for.

The Essence of Ethical Pragmatism: The Common Sense Philosophy

The Essence of Ethical Pragmatism: The Common Sense Philosophy
Author: E. Dennis Brod
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2016-07-28
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1483454363

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If you were choosing a physician to perform a life-saving task for yourself or a loved one, would you choose a lesser-qualified physician because the better-qualified one had social or political views inconsistent with your own? Wouldn't common sense tell you that regardless of your personal disagreements, the better-qualified physician would always be the best choice? If you think so, then you are already following one of the foundational teachings of ethical pragmatism (EP)-a common sense philosophy that stands as a simple guide for finding clear perspectives on how to achieve goals in the most beneficial way. The first part of The Essence of Ethical Pragmatism (known as EP) explains the philosophy, its development and its justifications. The second part of the book shows how the philosophy can be implemented to better our lives with a number of examples that involve issues challenging us today.

Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics

Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics
Author: Diana Heney
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2016-05-20
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317280350

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In our current social landscape, moral questions—about economic disparity, disadvantaging biases, and scarcity—are rightly receiving attention with a sense of urgency. This book argues that classical pragmatism offers a compelling and useful account of our engagement with moral life. The key arguments are first, that a broader reading of the pragmatist tradition than is usually attempted within the context of ethical theory is necessary; and second, that this broad reading offers resources that enable us to move forward in contemporary debates about truth and principles in moral life. The first argument is made by demonstrating that there is an arc of theoretical unity that stretches from two key founders of pragmatism—Charles Sanders Peirce and William James—through the work of John Dewey and Clarence Irving Lewis. The second argument is made by engaging with contemporary debates concerning the truth-status of the judgments and assertions made in ordinary moral discourse, as well as the role and nature of moral principles. Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics will be of interest to scholars of American philosophy, American intellectual history, and moral and political theorists, as well as anyone interested in the contours and demands of shared moral discourse.

Art and Ethics in a Material World

Art and Ethics in a Material World
Author: Jennifer A McMahon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1134110537

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In this book, McMahon argues that a reading of Kant’s body of work in the light of a pragmatist theory of meaning and language (which arguably is a Kantian legacy) leads one to put community reception ahead of individual reception in the order of aesthetic relations. A core premise of the book is that neo-pragmatism draws attention to an otherwise overlooked aspect of Kant’s "Critique of Aesthetic Judgment," and this is the conception of community which it sets forth. While offering an interpretation of Kant’s aesthetic theory, the book focuses on the implications of Kant’s third critique for contemporary art. McMahon draws upon Kant and his legacy in pragmatist theories of meaning and language to argue that aesthetic judgment is a version of moral judgment: a way to cultivate attitudes conducive to community, which plays a pivotal role in the evolution of language, meaning, and knowledge.

John Dewey and the Artful Life

John Dewey and the Artful Life
Author: Scott R. Stroud
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2015-09-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0271056878

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Aesthetic experience has had a long and contentious history in the Western intellectual tradition. Following Kant and Hegel, a human’s interaction with nature or art frequently has been conceptualized as separate from issues of practical activity or moral value. This book examines how art can be seen as a way of moral cultivation. Scott Stroud uses the thought of the American pragmatist John Dewey to argue that art and the aesthetic have a close connection to morality. Dewey gives us a way to reconceptualize our ideas of ends, means, and experience so as to locate the moral value of aesthetic experience in the experience of absorption itself, as well as in the experience of reflective attention evoked by an art object.