Search results for ""Author David McNaughton""

This book introduces the reader to ethics by examining a current and important debate. During the last fifty years the orthodox position in ethics has been a broadly non-cognitivist one: since there are no moral facts, moral remarks are best understood, not as attempting to describe the world, but as having some other function - such as expressing the attitudes or preferences of the speaker. In recent years this position has been increasingly challenged by moral realists who maintain that there are moral facts; there is a truth of the matter in ethics, which is independent of our views, and which we seek to discover. Unfortunately much of this interesting debate found in the work of McDowell, Wiggins, Putnam, Blackburn and others is not easily accessible to undergraduates. McNaughton presents many of the major issues in ethics by way of a clear exposition of both sides of this argument and assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy. Topics discussed include: moral observation, moral motivation, amoralism and wickedness, moral weakness, cultural relativism and utilitarianism. The book concludes that a convincing case can be made out for a radical form of moral realism in which moral virtue is found, not in the following of correct moral principles, but rather in the development of moral sensitivity. Moral Vision is a clear and engaged introduction to an important, and often troubling, debate.

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Joseph Butler's The Analogy of Religion (1736) is an important work in terms of its historical influence and its contemporary relevance. In it, Butler defends Christian belief against many well-known objections: for instance, that the evidence for Christianity is weak; that it is impossible to believe in miracles; that if God existed he would have revealed himself clearly to everyone. The problems Butler discusses are current in contemporary philosophy of religion, but his answers are often ignored, or given short shrift. Butler argues that by examining this world we have reason to believe its Creator is both benevolent and just; that virtue will be rewarded and vice punished. Even if we have doubts, we would be well advised to take Christianity seriously, given what is at stake. The work includes seminal discussions of life after death, personal identity, and the structure of our ethical thought. In addition to extensive notes, David McNaughton's edition includes a detailed synopsis, a selection from the correspondence between Butler and Samuel Clarke, and an oveview of philosophical influences on Butler's thought.

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