Prospects for a Common Morality

Published by Princeton University Press 1993

Prospects for a Common Morality

Edited by: Gene Outka and John P. Reeder

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400820818

Overview
Contents

About this book

This volume centers on debates about how far moral judgments bind across traditions and epochs. Nowadays such debates appear especially volatile, both in popular culture and intellectual discourse: although there is increasing agreement that the moral and political criteria invoked in human rights documents possess cross-cultural force, many modern and postmodern developments erode confidence in moral appeals that go beyond a local consensus or apply outside a particular community. Often the point of departure for discussion is the Enlightenment paradigm of a common morality, in which it is assumed that certain unchanging beliefs inhere in the structure of human reason. Whereas some thinkers continue to defend this paradigm, others modify it in diverse ways without abandoning entirely the attempt to address a universal audience, and still others jettison virtually all of its distinguishing features. Exhibiting a range of positions Western participants take in these debates, this volume seeks to advance the substance of the debates themselves without prejudging the outcome. Rival assessments of the Enlightenment paradigm are offered from various philosophical and theological points of view. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Robert Merrihew Adams, Annette C. Baier, Alan Donagan, Margaret A. Farley, Alan Gewirth, David Little, Richard Rorty, Jeffrey Stout, and Lee H. Yearley.

Reviews

Eleven distinguished ethicists weigh in on the question of whether there is a universal morality, relevant to all cultures and traditions by virtue of the universal structure of reason and conscience in human beings everywhere.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Gene Outka and John P. Reeder Jr. Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. COMMON MORALITY AND THE COMMUNITY OF RIGHTS Alan Gewirth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Chapter 2. COMMON MORALITY AND KANT’S ENLIGHTENMENT PROJECT Alan Donagan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Chapter 3. THE NATURE AND BASIS OF HUMAN RIGHTS David Little Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
Chapter 4. RELIGIOUS ETHICS IN A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY Robert Merrihew Adams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Chapter 5. AUGUSTINIANISM AND COMMON MORALITY Gene Outka Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Chapter 6. CLAIMS, RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES Annette C. Baier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Chapter 7. FEMINISM AND UNIVERSAL MORALITY Margaret A. Farley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
Chapter 8. FOUNDATIONS WITHOUT FOUNDATIONALISM John P. Reeder Jr. Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Chapter 9. ON HAVING A MORALITY IN COMMON Jeffrey Stout Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Chapter 10. CONFLICTS AMONG IDEALS OF HUMAN FLOURISHING Lee H. Yearley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Chapter 11. THE PRIORITY OF DEMOCRACY TO PHILOSOPHY Richard Rorty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
Chapter 12. TRUTH AND FREEDOM: A REPLY TO THOMAS MCCARTHY Richard Rorty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293

(Deutsch)