Nature, Reason, and the Good Life (Paperback)

Roger Teichmann

ISBN 10: 0198708971 / ISBN 13: 9780198708971

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014

About this Item

Paperback. At the centre of our ethical thought stands the human being. Facts about human nature determine the shape of ethical concepts in a variety of ways, and our pre-rational animal nature forms the basis of notions to do with rationality, virtue, and happiness, among other things. Nature, Reason, and the Good Life examines these themes while also arguing for the critical importance of language: only by attending to the social and empirical character of actuallanguage use can we make headway with a number of problems in ethics. Thus what counts as a good or bad reason for action depends on the purposes of human enquiry, as embodied in the question 'Why?'--it does notdepend, for example, on some abstract and higher Rationality connected with 'the point of the cosmos'. Furthermore, considerations in philosophy of language and in philosophy of mind together show how emotions, desires, and pleasure--all crucial for ethics--turn out not to be inner states carrying a sort of subjective authority, above or below criticism or justification, and this fact helps undermine various forms of subjectivism and individualism to be found both in philosophy and in the widerculture. Starting from an examination of foundational issues, the book covers a range of topics, including animals, agency, enjoyment, the good life, contemplation, death, and the importance ofphilosophy. En route, there are critiques of a number of prevalent trends of thought, such as utilitarianism, anti-speciesism, relativism, scientism and even 'ism'-ism. At the centre of our ethical thought stands the human being. Roger Teichmann examines the ways in which facts about human nature determine the shape of ethical concepts such as rationality, virtue, and happiness. He argues that only by attending to the social and empirical character of language use can we address a number of problems in ethics. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780198708971

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nature, Reason, and the Good Life (Paperback)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198708971
• ISBN 13: 9780198708971
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

At the centre of our ethical thought stands the human being. Facts about human nature determine the shape of ethical concepts in a variety of ways, and our pre-rational animal nature forms the basis of notions to do with rationality, virtue, and happiness, among other things. Nature, Reason, and the Good Life examines these themes while also arguing for the critical importance of language: only by attending to the social and empirical character of actual language use can we make headway with a number of problems in ethics. Thus what counts as a good or bad reason for action depends on the purposes of human enquiry, as embodied in the question "Why?"--it does not depend, for example, on some abstract and higher Rationality connected with 'the point of the cosmos'. Furthermore, considerations in philosophy of language and in philosophy of mind together show how emotions, desires, and pleasure--all crucial for ethics--turn out not to be inner states carrying a sort of subjective authority, above or below criticism or justification, and this fact helps undermine various forms of subjectivism and individualism to be found both in philosophy and in the wider culture. Starting from an examination of foundational issues, the book covers a range of topics, including animals, agency, enjoyment, the good life, contemplation, death, and the importance of philosophy. En route, there are critiques of a number of prevalent trends of thought, such as utilitarianism, anti-speciesism, relativism, scientism and even "ism"-ism.

About the Author

Roger Teichmann has written on a wide range of philosophical topics, from the philosophy of time to ethics. His work on the philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe is noteworthy: he is the author of a number of articles, a Festschrift, Logic, Cause and Action (2000), and the monograph, The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe (OUP, 2008).