Description
Book Synopsis`Choices can be wise or foolish, and feelings can be apt or off the mark.'' Since this is how we judge, it would be good to know what content these normative judgements carry. Gibbard offers an answer, and elaborates it. His theory explores what is at issue in narrowly moral questions, and in questions of rational thought and conduct in general. It helps to explain why normative thought and talk so pervade human life, and why our highly social species might have evolved to be gripped by these questions. Gibbard asks how, if his theory is right, we can interpret our normative puzzles, and thus proceed toward finding answers to them.Not available from OUP in the USA, Canada, Japan or the Phillippines.
Trade Review`no one who cares about ethics can ignore Gibbard's book with impunity' Times Literary Supplement
`Every so often, though not often enough, a philosophical book is written that addresses a deep problem with profound insight, subtle argumentation and captivating style. Allan Gibbard's Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgement is such a book. It is an important book; it is a beautiful book' Philosophical Quarterly
'this book commands respect on many counts ... It is an impressive exercise in system-building and a deeply serious contribution to the theory of peaceful co-existence under conditions of "unsocial sociability".' Sabina Lovibond, Worcester College, Mind, Vol. 101, No. 402, April 1992
'First published to considerable acclaim Allan Gibbard's book is now available in paperback. It addresses the relationship between rationality and morality.' Explorations in Knowledge
Table of ContentsI. Analyses: 1. The puzzle; 2. Nature and judgment; 3. Analyses broached; 4. Normative psychology; 5. Normative logic; II. Psyche in nature: 6. Natural representation; 7. Moral emotions; III. Normative objectivity: 8. Objectivity: first steps; 9. Normative authority; 10. Parochial judgment; 11. Rationale and warrant; 12. Pragmatic support; 13. Communities of judgment; IV. Moral inquiry: 14. Moral concern; 5. Assessing feelings; 16. Structural questions; 17. Moral system; References; Index
