On Manners

Stohr, Karen

ISBN 10: 0415875382 / ISBN 13: 9780415875387

Published by Routledge, 2011

About this Item

Unread book in perfect condition.

Seller Inventory # 12685635

Bibliographic Details

• Title: On Manners
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415875382
• ISBN 13: 9780415875387
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

Many otherwise enlightened people often dismiss etiquette as a trivial subject or―worse yet―as nothing but a disguise for moral hypocrisy or unjust social hierarchies. Such sentiments either mistakenly assume that most manners merely frame the “real issues” of any interpersonal exchange or are the ugly vestiges of outdated, unfair social arrangements. But in On Manners, Karen Stohr turns the tables on these easy prejudices, demonstrating that the scope of manners is much broader than most people realize and that manners lead directly to the roots of enduring ethical questions. Stohr suggests that though manners are mostly conventional, they are nevertheless authoritative insofar as they are a primary means by which we express moral attitudes and commitments and carry out important moral goals.

Drawing primarily on Aristotle and Kant and with references to a wide range of cultural examples―from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm―the author ultimately concludes that good manners are essential to moral character.

About the Author

Karen Stohr is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., where she is also a Senior Research Scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics.