In Defense of Practical Reason: A Study and an Application of Arthur Murphy's Theory (Rice University Studies, Monograph in Philosophy, Vol. 55, No. 1, Winter, 1969)

107 pp. Contents divided into 6 Parts: (I) INTRODUCTION; (II) ARTHUR MURPHY'S THEORY OF PRACTICAL REASON; (III) CRITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF MURPHY'S THEORY: [A] FACTUALIST THEORIES (1) Naive Factualism; (2) Scientism; (3) Sociologism; (4) Psychologism; (5) Emotivism; (6) Intuitionism (Cognitivism); [B] TRANSCENDENTALIST THEORIES (1) Kantian Noumenalism; (2) Kierkegaardian Theocentrism; (3) Sartrean Voluntarism; (4) Ethical Monism; (5) Absolutism; (IV) CONTEMPORARY EROSION OF PRACTICAL REASON 1) The ' Uselessness ' of General Standards; (2) The ' Naturalization ' of Institutions; (3) The Challenge of Existentialism; (V) THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AGENT; (VI) PRCTICAL APPLICATIONS (1) Factual Ignorance; (2) Destructive Attitudes; (3) The Quest for Common Good; Notes, pp. 102-105; Selected Bibliography, pp. 106-107. Light gray wrappers with University Series name in thick black letters across top front cover, above University logo at upper middle; Title, Subtitle and Author name in smaller black letters at lower middle front cover. top right corner bumped, with 1/4" crease beneath a 1/16" tip crease, textblock waviness echoing forward through book, looking like an artifact manufacturing issue, so systematic the tiny waviness; front cover browned with age on perimeters, leaving a 3" x 7" gray trapezoidal space at center front cover; spine browned and separation of gray paper on spine from glued signatures has been repaired, obscuring 'UNI' part of 'UNIVERSITY' on spine; liquid "Rorschach" stain down left edge front cover at "gutter", across spine and down left spine edge on rear cover; faint signs of recessive stain down front cover and rear cover edges at fore-edge and across fore-edge itself (NO bleeding onto pages, NO impact on text): These are all, essentially "cosmetic" peccadilloes, leaving the artifact: tightly bound (NO creases); NO previous owner names; NO remainder marks. Clean text. [Laid in: RUS Insert ofTable of Contents for each of the 4 Issues of RUS, Vol. 54 (1968).] Truly excellent condition for a softcover Journal more than 50 years old, about a distinguished Philosopher revered at both the University of Texas and the University of Oregon. // Remarkably timely views, e.g. "If we are to come to grips effectively with the basic problems of antisocial behavior, the community must show convincingly that it does care about the needs of the disaffected. This calls for a concentration on the foci of discontent, be it due to ineffective education, inadequate employment opportunities, or unjust social practices stemming from racial or religious prejudices. To remedy these conditions is to dispel the suspicion that there are no decent and peaceful ways of bringing about a satisfaction of normal human needs and legitimate expectations." ((p. 84) "It is demoralizing too see persons in positions of authority, who normally ought to be looked up to as positive examples, indulge in dubious practices. The phenomenon of corruption among officeholders is causing much concern. . . "corruption" is a betrayal of trust. . . When an officeholder gets into the habit of perverting, for purely personal gain, the power entrusted to him for the exercise of publicly beneficial functions, he strikes at the very roots of social stability. . . The great danger is that the modus vivendi of bribery and corruption will become a pervasive, "normal" attitude, "justified" by the belief that "everyone does it." For then a drastic renewal may be required to restore public transactions to the realm of honesty and reliability, without which no society can avoid chaos and injustice. . . Since what is at stake is a healthy, efficient operation of public institutions, one possible remedy would be to introduce into the framework of these institutions a built-in watchdog, with appropriate powers, charged with ferreting out and bringing up for legal action actual malpractices." (p. 85).…