Scheler's ethical personalism : its logic, development, and promise / Peter H. Spader.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spader, Peter H.

Series:

Perspectives in continental philosophy 1089-3938 ; no. 25.

Perspectives in continental philosophy, 1089-3938 ; no. 25

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scheler, Max, 1874-1928.

Scheler, Max.

Physical Description:

xviii, 327 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Fordham University Press, 2002.

Summary:

Peter Spader has written a magisterial study on Max Scheler, one of phenomenology's earliest and greatest figures, whose theory of ethical personalism has become a major voice in the formulation of phenomenological ethics today. Spader follows Scheler's use of the classic phenomenological approach, by means of which he presented a fresh view of values, feelings, and the person, and thereby staked out a new approach in ethics. Spader recreates the logic of Scheler's quest, revealing the basis of his thought and the reasons for his dramatic changes of direction. This remarkable study provides a framework that allows us to understand Scheler's insights in the context of their dynamic evolution of his thought. It corrects imbalances in the presentation of his ideas and defends Scheler against key misunderstandings and criticisms. In short, Spader's work continues the process of developing Scheler's pioneering theory of ethical personalism.

Contents:

The Promise of Scheler 4

The Problems of Scheler 8

Part 2 The Challenge of Kant

2 Kant's Rational Formalism 23

Kant's "Copernican Turn" 23

Kant's Approach to Rational, Formal Ethics 26

Kant's Kingdom of Ends 31

Scheler's Initial Objection to Kant's Formal Ethics 33

Kant's Challenge to All Nonformal Ethics 41

The Requirement of Noncontingent Values 44

The Requirement of Noncontingent Feeling 44

The Requirement of the Noncontingent Person 45

3 Values and Phenomenology 48

Values and Phenomenology 49

Scheler's Phenomenological Approach 51

The A Priori 54

The A Priori and the Phenomenological Given 56

The Immediately Given versus the Nongiven 57

The Order of Givenness 58

The Immediately Given versus the Mediately Given 60

The Immediately Given's Independence from the Senses 62

The Obscurity of the Phenomenological Given 67

Autonomous Values 68

Phenomenology as a "Procedure of Seeing" 71

The Phenomenological Given and Kant's Rationalism 77

Summary, and Transition to a New Problem 78

4 Feelings 80

Scheler's Manifesto 82

The Complexity of "Feelings" 83

"Feeling of Something" (Fuhlen von etwas) versus "Feeling States" (Gefuhlszustanden) 84

"Preferring" (Vorziehen) and "Placing After" (Nachsetzen) 86

Love and Hate 87

The Refutation of Relativity 89

Value Blindness 91

The Role of Love 91

The Limited Vision of Values 94

The Role of Hate 95

Value Distortion 96

Ressentiment 97

5 Persons 101

Scheler's Critique of Kant's Person 102

Scheler's Person 102

Person as Act 104

A Phenomenological Description of Acts and persons 106

The Nondurational Act 107

The Experiencing of Acts 110

The Experiencing of Persons 112

Solving the First Enigma: Why Does Scheler Not Provide Phenomenological Evidence for His Claims about Values and the Person? 115

The Need for an Ethics 117

Part 3 The Challenge of Scheler's New Ethics

6 Scheler's New Ethics 121

The Hierarchical Ranks of Values 121

The Moral Good 125

The Noncontingent Realization of Moral Values 127

The Person as Bearer of Moral Values 127

Scheler's Ethics versus an Ethics of Success 128

Basic Moral Tenor and Deeds 130

Scheler, Kant, and Utilitarianism 133

Core Elements of Scheler's Foundations for Ethics, with Practical Problems 135

Scheler's Practical Ethics 135

The Uniqueness of Individual Persons 136

Public and Private Insight 138

The Model Person 140

The Tragic Limits of Finite Persons 143

The Infinite Person: God 144

Solving the Second Enigma: Why Does Scheler Turn to God after the Formalism, Rather Than Complete His Ethics? 145

A Change of Direction 147

7 God and Ethics 149

The "Problems of Religion" 149

The Tasks of Philosophy and Religion 151

The Nature of God 155

God as Mentality (Geistigkeit) 156

The Interrelation of the World and Mental Acts 158

Creation and Realization 160

God Is Love and God Is Good 163

A New Problem: God, Reality, and Evil 165

The Use of "Metaphysical" Insights 165

The Distinction between the Real and the Unreal 166

The Problem of Evil 169

The Dualism Solution Rejected 170

Rejection of Human Action as the Ultimate Cause of Evil 171

The Devil Solution 173

The Failure of the Devil as the Cause of Evil 173

8 From Theism to Panentheism 176

The Psychological Approach to Scheler 176

The Suddenness of the Change 181

Scheler's Comments on the Change 182

Panentheism 184

Geist and Drang 184

The Interaction between Geist and Drang 186

Scheler's Ethics and the New Panentheism 187

The Ideal and the Real 188

The Powerlessness of Geist 189

Reality, Will, and Drang 191

Ethics and the Ideal-Real Distinction 192

God and the Deitas 194

The Human Person and Deitas 194

The Problem of Evil Solved 194

Scheler and Schopenhauer 195

Scheler's Optimism 196

New Problems 199

9 The Troubled Relationship between Geist and Drang 201

The Problem of the Powerlessness of Geist 201

The Interaction Problem 202

Scheler's Emphasis 202

The Power of Geist 203

The Interaction between Geist and Drang 205

Geist below the Human Person 206

Defending the Uniqueness of the Human Person 211

Freedom and Interaction 213

Geist, Drang, Idealization, and Realization 217

Resolution of the Third Enigma 219

The Completion of Scheler's Ethics: The Unfinished Task 220

New Possibilities 221

Part 4 Defending a Schelerian Ethical Personalism

10 Defending the Central Role of the Person in Scheler's Ethics 225

The New Task 225

The Tragic Limits of Finite Persons

Again 228

The Two Ways to God 228

The Solution to the Problem of the Tragic Limits of Finite Persons 229

The Problem of a Change of Heart 231

The Change of Heart 232

Husserl, Scheler, and Intersubjectivity 238

The General Problem of Intersubjectivity 239

Scheler's Phenomenology of Intersubjectivity 239

The Transcendental Ego and Intersubjectivity 243

Schutz's Criticism of Scheler's Phenomenology of Intersubjectivity 244

The Defense of Scheler's Phenomenology of Intersubjectivity 245

The Possibility of Truly Shared Thoughts 246

The Question of Whether Persons or Values Are More Important 248

Scheler and Human Sacrifice 249

The Primacy of the Person over Values 252

The Challenge to the Primacy of the Heart 253

11 Defending the Central Role of the Heart in Value-Ception 255

The Primacy of the Heart in Value-Ception 256

Strasser's Criticism of the Primacy of Feeling 257

The True Relationship of the Two Logics 258

Wojtyla's Criticism: Feeling and Choice 258

Choosing against Felt Values 260

Choosing Unfelt Values 261

Free Choice and the Ordo Amoris 263

The Role of Reason in Ethical Decisions 264

Von Hildebrand's Criticism: The Subjectively Satisfying and the Intrinsically Important 266

The Choice of Lower Values 269

The Values Seen 272

12 Defending Scheler's Knowledge of Values 273

Blosser's Critique of Scheler's Grasp of Values 274

Blosser's Criticism of Scheler's Practical Ethics 277

Scheler, Persons, and Children 280

Criticism of Scheler's Distinction between Moral and Nonmoral Values 282

The Relationship between Aesthetic and Moral Values 283

Criticism of Scheler's Placement of Particular Values in Particular Ranks 288

Criticism of the "Holy-Unholy" as a Separate Rank of Values 289

Heideggerian Criticism of Scheler's Understanding of the Basic Nature of Values 291

The Defense of Phenomenology 293

Scheler and Language 294.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [299]-318) and index.

ISBN:

0823221776

0823221784

OCLC:

48494161