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"This book examines a variety of arguments that might be thought to support skepticism about the existence of morality, and it explains how these arguments can be answered by those who believe in objective moral truths. The focus throughout is on discussing questions that frequently trouble thoughtful and reflective individuals, including questions like the following: Does the prevalence of moral disagreement make it reasonable to conclude that there aren't really any moral facts at all? Is morality simply relative to particular societies and times? What could objective moral facts possibly be like? If there were moral facts, how could we ever come to know anything about them? Shouldn't belief in the theory of evolution undermine our confidence that our moral intuitions reliably reveal moral truths? Would moral facts ever actually explain anything at all? Can morality really have the motivating and rational force we normally take it to have? How can one possibly find a place for objective moral values in a scientific worldview? The book explores plausible answers to questions like these and it thus aims to show why the belief in objective morality remains an intellectually reasonable one"-- Provided by publisher.

• Hypocritical blame
• Complications and defeaters of standing
• What, if anything, makes hypocritical blame morally wrong?
• Other ways of not having standing to blame
• Praising
• Forgiving
• Morality, normativity, and standing.

"This volume presents new research on the use of experimental methodologies in moral and social philosophy. The contributions reflect the growing plurality of methodologies and strategies for implementing experimental work on morality to new domains, problems, and topics. Philosophers are exploring the ways in which empirical approaches can transform our idea of the good, our understanding of the social nature of norms and morality, as well as our methods of fulfilling ethical goals. The chapters in this volume extend experimental work on morality to previously underexplored areas. The contributions in Part 1 explore the methods and foundations of experimental work in areas such as folk moral judgments, metaethical beliefs, moral explanations, and reflective equilibrium. Part 2 focuses on issues in normative ethics, legal, and political philosophy such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, theories of justice, and criminal responsibility. Finally, the chapters in Part 3 tackle various applied ethical issues including feminist X-Phi, animal welfare, experimental bioethics, and self-driving cars. Experiments in Moral and Political Philosophy will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in ethics, applied ethics, experimental philosophy, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of law"-- Provided by publisher.

"According to noncognitivists, when we say that stealing is wrong, what we are doing is more like venting our feelings about stealing or encouraging one another not to steal, than like stating facts about morality. These ideas challenge the core not only of much thinking about morality and metaethics, but also of much philosophical thought about language and meaning. Noncognitivism in Ethics is an outstanding introduction to these theories, ranging from their early history through the latest contemporary developments. Beginning with a general introduction to metaethics, Mark Schroeder introduces and assesses three principal kinds of noncognitivist theory: the speech-act theories of Ayer, Stevenson, and Hare, the expressivist theories of Blackburn and Gibbard, and hybrid theories. He pays particular attention both to the philosophical problems about what moral facts could be about or how they could matter which noncognitivism seeks to solve, and to the deep problems that it faces, including the task of explaining both the nature of moral thought and the complexity of moral attitudes, and the 'Frege-Geach' problem. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout. It includes new sections on expressivism as a meta-semantic argument; the rise of relational expressivism; the idea that expressivism leads us to a novel understanding of the nature of propositions; and expressivism and epistemic modals, deontic modals, probability, vagueness and truth. Schroeder makes even the most difficult material accessible by offering crucial background along the way. Also included are exercises at the end of each chapter, chapter summaries, and a glossary of technical terms, making Noncognitivism in Ethics essential reading for all students of ethics and metaethics"-- Provided by publisher.

• Varieties of harm
• The counterfactual comparative account (CCA)
• Preemption and the plural harm approach
• CCA with plural harm : the theory
• CCA with plural harm : metaphysical and moral issues
• Harm and the failure to benefit
• The harm of death

• Varieties of harm
• The counterfactual comparative account (CCA)
• Preemption and the plural harm approach
• CCA with plural harm : the theory
• CCA with plural harm : metaphysical and moral issues
• Harm and the failure to benefit
• The harm of death

"Harm is connected, in one way or another, with well-being. The things that harm us make our lives go worse or make us fare badly in some way. In this book, I construct, defend, and apply a certain account of the nature of harm. To the extent that we have an ordinary, practical concept of harm, my focus is on this concept"-- Provided by publisher

• Which virtue ethics? which problems?
• A case for spiritual struggle
• Onward and upward : the perpetual Godwardness of spiritual struggle
• Asceticism as Godward spiritual struggle applied to the body
• Sacred reading as Godward spiritual struggle applied to scripture
• Embodied ethics and inevitable tensions.

"This book develops a contemporary model of spiritual struggle aimed at perpetual ascent to and in God. Spiritual struggle in this project, which ultimately shifts the emphasis from virtue's acquisition to its pursuit, is defined as the exertion of effort in all conceivable dimensions-physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual-with intent to attain a semblance of, knowledge of, and intimacy with Jesus Christ in community, for God and for others. Gregory of Nyssa's theory of epektasis assumes a basic three-tiered conception of perpetual ascent, beginning with purification and detachment from fleshly passions, strengthening the soul by increasing in similitude to God, and ending with unity with God, that is, with inexpressible and transformative experience of God. God-the infinite, the Good, and the Paragon of virtue-functions as the orienting principle of this perpetual ascent, mitigating the issues of the unity of the virtues and the self-centeredness and self-effacement of virtue. This book goes on to provide two of many potential concrete instantiations of this suggested model. The first is the application of this model to the body, which in turn will have implications for contemporary sexual ethics. The second is a reintegration of ethics and Scripture through the contemporary application of an ancient Patristic lectio divina"-- Provided by publisher.

• Intellectual sources and disciplinary engagements. Moral & political philosophy / Hallvard Lillehammer ; Virtue ethics / Jonathan Mair ; Agnostic pluralists / James Laidlaw & Patrick McKearney ; The two faces of Michel Foucault / Paolo Heywood ; Phenomenology / Samuel Williams ; Cognitive science / Harry Walker & Natalia Buitron ; Theology / Michael Banner
• Aspects of ethical agency. Making the ethical in social interaction / Webb Keane & Michael Lempert ; Freedom / Soumhya Venkatesan ; Responsibility / Catherine Trundle ; Emotion and affect / Teresa Kuan ; Happiness and wellbeing / Edward F. Fischer & Sam Victor ; Suffering and sympathy / Abby Mack & C. Jason Throop ; Ambiguity and difference / Adam B. Seligman & Robert P. Weller
• Media and modes of ethical practice. Self-cultivation / Joanna Cook ; Exemplars / Nicholas H. A. Evans ; Ritual / Letha Victor & Michael Lambek ; Values / Julian Sommerschuh & Joel Robbins ; Rules / Morgan Clarke ; On ethical pedagogies / James D. Faubion
• Intimate and everyday life. Care / Cheryl Mattingly & Patrick McKearney ; Kinship and love / Perveez Mody ; Cooperation and punishment / Anni Kajanus & Charles Stafford ; Favours / David Henig & Nicolette Makovicky ; The inimical gaze / Carlos D. Londoño Sulkin ; Aminals / Rosie Jones-McVey ; God / T. M. Luhrmann
• Institutional life. Modern capitalism and ethical plurality / Robert W. Hefner ; The ethics of trade & commerce / Paul Anderson & Magnus Marsden ; Activism and political organization / Sian Lazar ; Philanthropy / China Scherz ; Science / Matei Candea ; Communist morality under socialism / Yunxiang Yan.

"Two apparently contradictory things are both true about the anthropology of ethics. It is true that the academic discipline of anthropology has been concerned with ethics and morality throughout its whole history. It is also true that until the last couple of decades there was nothing that could reasonably be called the anthropology of ethics. Its advent has been felt to be such a distinct development that we are routinely said to have undergone an 'ethical turn', yet people also feel moved, equally routinely, to point out that anthropologists have been writing about morality all along, and they are indeed correct in saying this"-- Provided by publisher.

• Remarques sur les origines juridiques possibles de la certitude morale chez Descartes
• Vel saltem neminem fuisse. Spinoza et la certitude morale
• La démonstration présomptive a priori de l'existence de Dieu. Certitude morale et religion naturelle chez Leibniz
• La certitude morale de Pascal à Bayle
• L'évidence morale dans la philosophie naturelle de Willem 's Gravesande
• Certitudes subverties. Stratégies de Diderot
• D'un soleil, l'autre. L'éclipse humienne de la certitude morale.

"La question de la certitude morale est cruciale à l'époque classique - tout comme celle de l'évidence de l'intuition intellectuelle et celle de la certitude mathématique et métaphysique. La certitude morale fait d'abord figure de certitude subalterne, douteuse - d'incertitude, en somme - jusqu'à ce que les philosophes de la fin du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècles s'efforcent de combler l'abîme entre la certitude mathématique et celle du témoignage historique en définissant des "degrés" de certitude relative nécessaires pour "l'usage de la vie". Cette question est examinée ici chez Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, les théologiens de Port-Royal, Pascal, Pierre Bayle, Willem 's Gravesande, Diderot et l'Encyclopédie, et David Hume."--Page 4 of cover.

• Pt. 1. Trois concepts philosophiques de bonheur
• 1. Voltaire critique de Pascal
• 2. Kiericegaard et la vie éternelle
• Le désir d'être et le bien absolu
• Connaissance et existence : la vie éternelle ici-bas
• L'intériorité
• Comprendre le paradoxe
• Les métaphores éthiques
• 3. Heidegger et la sérénité
• 4. De Wittgenstein à Carnap : le sentiment ontologique en question
• Pt. 2. L'éthique et les langages de l'art
• Introduction : Le concept et l'image
• 5. Borges et le labyrinthe des sentiments
• 6. Le visage de Buster et la sagesse de Keaton
• Conclusion : Éthique et politique : la dimension collective de la composition des sentiments.

"Qu'est-ce que le souverain bien ? Le présent ouvrage remet sur le chantier cette question qui est au centre de l'éthique depuis les sagesses grecques. L'auteur y fait dialoguer trois concepts modernes de bonheur, de la "vie éternelle ici-bas" selon Kierkegaard à la tradition de "la composition des sentiments" qui va de Voltaire à Carnap, en passant par la "sérénité" du dernier Heidegger. Une telle exploration permet d'éclairer sous un nouveau jour la portée éthique de la littérature et du cinéma, à partir d'une analyse des œuvres de Borges et de Keaton. Cette approche de la question éthique, sous le double prisme de la philosophie morale et de [esthétique, ouvre sur une réflexion sur la place des affects collectifs dans t'espace public contemporain et sur la manière dont une société démocratique pourrait les traiter et composer en vue du bien commun."--Page 4 of cover.

• Introduction: the creativity complex
• How we all became creative
• The creative society: Reagan and the California crusade
• Creativity and the classroom: maker education and labor precarity
• Discarded creativity: libertarian mythologizing and steampunk nostalgia
• Creativity's monsters: Frankenstein, self-fulfillment, and the art/tech interface
• Creative futures: the Pacific century, the creative century
• Epilogue: from the ruins, reconstructing creativity.

Richly researched, the book explores how creativity has been invoked in arenas as varied as Enlightenment debates over the nature of the cognition, Victorian-era intelligence research, the Cold War technology race, contemporary education, and even modern electoral politics. Along the way, the book turns to a set of art works from mobile steampunk sculptures to bicentennial adaptations of Frankenstein to a musical about the US Presidential election that ask how our ideas about creativity are bound up with those of self-fulfillment, responsibility, and the individual, and how these might seduce us into joining a worldview and even a set of social imperatives that we might otherwise find troubling. The Creativity Complex traces the history of how creativity has come to mean the things it now does, and explores the ethical implications of how we use this term today for both the arts and for the social world more broadly.

• Introduction
• What is deontology?
• Two deontological doctrines
• W. D. Ross
• Ross, deontology, and its defence against consequentialism
• Normativity, motivation, and practical reasons
• The place of moral principles.

Deontology is a theory about how we should act, morally speaking. It comes in several varieties, but all share certain doctrines, many of which are close to those found in the so-called 'common-sense morality' of the Western world. And all varieties are united in their opposition to consequentialism, a theory that, in its simplest form, tells us that we should always act so as to maximize impersonal value by bringing about the best consequences. This Element presents some of the different versions of deontology, including the views of W. D. Ross, and, to a lesser extent, Immanuel Kant. It defends certain deontological tenets, while challenging others, and contrasts them with consequentialism. Deontology and consequentialism are two of the main contenders in ethical theory, but virtue ethics is another, and it too is addressed (briefly), with an attempt to see it, in its most plausible form, as part of deontology.-- Provided by publisher.

Deontology is a theory about how we should act, morally speaking. It comes in several varieties, but all share certain doctrines, many of which are close to those found in the so-called 'common-sense morality' of the Western world. And all varieties are united in their opposition to consequentialism, a theory that, in its simplest form, tells us that we should always act so as to maximize impersonal value by bringing about the best consequences. This Element presents some of the different versions of deontology, including the views of W. D. Ross, and, to a lesser extent, Immanuel Kant. It defends certain deontological tenets, while challenging others, and contrasts them with consequentialism. Deontology and consequentialism are two of the main contenders in ethical theory, but virtue ethics is another, and it too is addressed (briefly), with an attempt to see it, in its most plausible form, as part of deontology

• Turtles all the way down
• The final three minutes of a movie
• Where does intent come from?
• Willing willpower : the myth of grit
• A primer on chaos
• Is your free will chaotic?
• A primer on emergent complexity
• Does your free will just emerge?
• A primer on quantum indeterminacy
• Is your free will random?
• Interlude
• Will we run Amok?
• The ancient gears within us : how does change happen?
• We really have done this before
• The joy of punishment
• If you die poor.

"One of our great behavioral scientists plumbs the depths of the science and philosophy of decision-making to mount a devastating case against free will, an argument with profound consequences. Robert Sapolsky's "Behave," his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Now, in "Determined," Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do. This book offers a marvelous synthesis of what we know about how consciousness works--the tight weave between reason and emotion and between stimulus and response in the moment and over a life. One by one, Sapolsky tackles all the major arguments for free will and takes them out, cutting a path through the thickets of chaos and complexity science and quantum physics, as well as touching ground on some of the wilder shores of philosophy. He shows us that the history of medicine is in no small part the history of learning that fewer and fewer things are somebody's "fault"; for example, for centuries we thought seizures were a sign of demonic possession. Yet, as he acknowledges, it's very hard, and at times impossible, to uncouple from our zeal to judge others and to judge ourselves. Sapolsky applies the new understanding of life beyond free will to some of our most essential questions around punishment, morality, and living well together. By the end, Sapolsky argues that while living our daily lives recognizing that we have no free will is going to be monumentally difficult, doing so is not going to result in anarchy, pointlessness, and existential malaise. Instead, it will make for a much more humane world"-- Provided by publisher.