Moral Particularism
Journal Data
| Type | SOURCE_BOOK |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University PressOxford |
| ISBN-13 | 9780198238843 |
| Total publications | 5 |
| Coverage period | 2000 - 2000 |
| Language | EN |
Moral particularism is currently one of the most widely discussed-and hotly contested-issues in ethical theory. Spurred in large part by reactions to the writings of John McDowell and Jonathan Dancy, philosophers continue to divide between those who find particularism’s claims insightful and those who find them exaggerated or wrong-headed. Indeed, philosophers continue to divide over how best to interpret what claims ‘moral particularism’ is meant to represent in the first place. In this collection, we present a dozen new essays by theorists who take up the controversy.
Moral Particularism
Moral particularism is currently one of the most widely discussed-and hotly contested-issues in ethical theory. Spurred in large part by reactions to the writings of John McDowell and Jonathan Dancy, philosophers continue to divide between those who find particularism’s claims insightful and those who find them exaggerated or wrong-headed. Indeed, philosophers continue to divide over how best to interpret what claims ‘moral particularism’ is mean…
Ethics as an Inexact Science
At the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics, (hereafter EN), Aristotle warns that we must not demand too much exactness in ethical inquiry (1094bll-14). The difficulty of finding an exact account in ethics results not from our lack of diligence, but from an ineliminable feature of the subject matter. The variability of fine, just, and good things makes it impossible to reach necessary and universal principles; we must say something ‘roughly and in…
Unprincipled Ethics
The term ‘ethical particularist’ has sometimes been used, in a broad and loose way, as a label for anyone who expresses hostility to the view that a decision about what we ought to do in some particular case can be mechanically ‘read off’ from a general moral principle or principles. Rather, it is urged, a correct moral verdict can only be reached by paying close attention to the individual case-to what differentiates it from other cases as much …
The Particularist’s Progress
Many people seem willing to call themselves feminists with little idea of what they are committing themselves to. The same, in my experience, is true of particularism in the theory of moral reasons. There is a common suggestion that to be a particularist is, at the outset, only to admit that circumstances can make a difference. But if that were all that particularism amounted to, it would be uncontentious. In this chapter I lay out what I think o…
The Truth in Particularism
When reflecting on the way we come to do what we do, or to refrain from what we refrain from doing, it is natural to be torn between a particularist and a generalist tendency. We tend towards a generalist view when we feel that at least sometimes we are guided by general precepts and are inclined to believe that it is always possible to be so guided. ‘I must do this’ —I may say-’My son is relying on me.’ Or, ‘I cannot do this. It would be cheatin…
No prominent publications on this page.
Moral Particularism
Moral particularism is currently one of the most widely discussed-and hotly contested-issues in ethical theory. Spurred in large part by reactions to the writings of John McDowell and Jonathan Dancy, philosophers continue to divide between those who find particularism’s claims insightful and those who find them exaggerated or wrong-headed. Indeed, philosophers continue to divide over how best to interpret what claims ‘moral particularism’ is mean…
Ethics as an Inexact Science
At the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics, (hereafter EN), Aristotle warns that we must not demand too much exactness in ethical inquiry (1094bll-14). The difficulty of finding an exact account in ethics results not from our lack of diligence, but from an ineliminable feature of the subject matter. The variability of fine, just, and good things makes it impossible to reach necessary and universal principles; we must say something ‘roughly and in…
Unprincipled Ethics
The term ‘ethical particularist’ has sometimes been used, in a broad and loose way, as a label for anyone who expresses hostility to the view that a decision about what we ought to do in some particular case can be mechanically ‘read off’ from a general moral principle or principles. Rather, it is urged, a correct moral verdict can only be reached by paying close attention to the individual case-to what differentiates it from other cases as much …
The Particularist’s Progress
Many people seem willing to call themselves feminists with little idea of what they are committing themselves to. The same, in my experience, is true of particularism in the theory of moral reasons. There is a common suggestion that to be a particularist is, at the outset, only to admit that circumstances can make a difference. But if that were all that particularism amounted to, it would be uncontentious. In this chapter I lay out what I think o…
The Truth in Particularism
When reflecting on the way we come to do what we do, or to refrain from what we refrain from doing, it is natural to be torn between a particularist and a generalist tendency. We tend towards a generalist view when we feel that at least sometimes we are guided by general precepts and are inclined to believe that it is always possible to be so guided. ‘I must do this’ —I may say-’My son is relying on me.’ Or, ‘I cannot do this. It would be cheatin…