Description
Book SynopsisSubjective Morals breaks with tradition to provide a careful analysis of moral values and the goods and evils they produce. Sapontzis explores the subjective and objective bases of moral values and analyzes the concepts and categories that structure our moral practice.
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Starting with the Eye of the Beholder 1. No value without feeling 2. The primary argument 3. Three supporting arguments 4. Answering six common objections 5. Plato’s rejection of subjective morals Chapter Two: Axiology, More Complicated Than It Looks 1. Categorizing values 2. Derivative value 3. Direct value 4. Immediate value 5. Summary of categories 6. Imperatives and priorities 7. Answering Plato’s cart-before-the-horse objection Chapter Three: Varieties of Truth and Justification 1. Objectivity or bust 2. Circumstantial and contextual truth 3. Historical truth 4. Varieties of justification 5. Context-based justification 6. Summary Chapter Four: A Phenomenology of Moral Values 1. Methodology 2. Origin 3. Subject matter 4. Functions 5. Concern 6. Priority 7. Extension: Impersonality, impartiality, inescapability, common sensicality, diversity 8. Summary and coordination Chapter Five: Moral Relativism 1. Cultural relativism 2. The compulsion for moral values to be objective 3. Why should I be moral? Chapter Six: The Right and the not so Good 1. Evaluating morality 2. The brighter side of morality: social coexistence 3. The brighter side: “true happiness” 4. The brighter side: nonhuman welfare 5. The darker side of morality: happiness 6. The darker side: liberty 7. The darker side: punishment, exploitation, intolerance, and zealotry 8. Circularity 9. An eye for an eye 10. Heat versus light Chapter Seven: Inferences, Observations, and Speculations 1. Empathy, respect, and negative functioning 2. Moral persuasion 3. Religious morality 4. Recommendations
