Description
Book SynopsisThomas Hill, a leading figure in the recent development of Kantian moral philosophy, presents a series of essays that interpret and develop Kant''s ideas on ethics. The first part of the book focuses on basic concepts: a priori method, a good will, categorical imperatives, autonomy, and constructivist strategies of argument. Hill goes on to consider aspects of human welfare, and then moral worth--the nature and grounds of moral assessment of persons as deserving esteem or blame. He offers illuminating discussions of happiness, beneficence, personal values, conscience, moral desert, moral dilemmas, and feelings of regret. He is critical of Kant at many points, but he shows how many familiar objections miss the mark. Two previously unpublished essays challenge the views of other influential Kant scholars and defend alternative interpretations of Kant on beneficence, supererogation, and what it means to ''set oneself an end''. These clear and careful writings show moral, poltical, and soc
Trade ReviewThis collection brings together work of the calibre that has made Thomas E. Hill, Jr., a leader in the interpretation and development of Kant's ethics. Hill exhibits a rare combination of sensitivity to complex moral issues, insight into Kant's texts, and analytical incisivenss. In clear, jargon-free prose, these essays expertly draw the reader into the core of Kantian moral philosophy. * Ethics *
Human Welfare and Moral Worth gives us plenty to think about ... the volume has the great virtue of defending positions that are subtle and reasonable as well as innovative and engaging. * Ethics *
... splendidly produced volume. Thomas Hill has developed a distinctive line of Kant exposition and analysis which will repay close reading and careful consideration. Hill is an attentive and sensitive interpreter of Kant who takes Kant's major ethical writings as a starting point rather than an end point of argument. Hill is concerned to establish how Kant's practical philosophy engages with our lives and society and in an instructive and stimulating way. Hill is scholarly without being unduly scholastic. His project is to bring Kant's ideas alive by relating them to our contemporary moral and political dilemmas. In this I think he succeeds. * Kantian Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Kantian Analysis: From Duty to Autonomy ; 2. Is Good Will Over-Rated? ; 3. Hypothetical Consent in Kantian Constructivism ; 4. Beneficence and Self-Love ; 5. Reasonable Self-Interest ; 6. Happiness and Human Flourishing ; 7. Meeting Needs and Doing Favors ; 8. Personal Values and Setting Ends ; 9. Four Conceptions of Conscience ; 10. Wrongdoing, Desert, and Punishment ; 11. Punishment, Conscience, and Moral Worth ; 12. Moral Dilemmas, Gaps, and Residues ; Bibliography, Index
