Walls and vaults : a natural science of morals (virtue ethics according to David Hume) / Jordan Howard Sobel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sobel, Jordan Howard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hume, David, 1711-1776.

Hume, David.

Virtue.

Ethics.

Physical Description:

xiii, 414 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, [2009]

Summary:

Widely regarded as one of the most important philosophers in Western thinking, David Hume contributed significant works that profoundly influenced the study of ethics and morality. Now, in Walls and Vaults, internationally renowned author Jordan Howard Sobel blends Hume's moral theory with his own ground-breaking observations and employs mathematical thought to explore timeless questions about the grounds of morality, the organization of moral principles, and the rationale for being moral.

Blending a modern treatment with a classical perspective, this book presents an illuminating account of Hume's philosophy and the contemporary problems that exist in the metaphysics, language, and logic of morals. Two of Hume's eminent works, A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, are used as the cornerstone for the discussion of major topics in the study of morality such as virtue theory, cooperation and coordination, error theory, the prisoner's dilemma, and 'Glaucon's Problem', "Why be moral? Why in particular be just?" Concepts from game theory, logic of conditionals, and decision-making are used to illuminate Hume's ideas. The Bayesian methodology of Hume's science of moral ethics is also underscored throughout the text. Detailed appendices located at the end of selected chapters include technical elaborations, and an extensive bibliography directs readers to additional literature on Hume's works.

Extensively class-tested and complete with thought-provoking detail, Walls and Vaults is ideal as a supplementary text in philosophy, economics, law, and political science courses at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for scholars specializing in ethics, game theory, and the works of David Hume.

Contents:

I Introduction 1

1 The Business of Moral Philosophy and the Question, "Why Be Moral?" 1

2 Hume's Questions in Moral Philosophy and His Answers-in Brief 4

3 Coming Chapters 8

Part 1 Analysis and Metaphysics-Semantics, Pragmatics, and Logic 11

II Virtue and Vice 13

1 David Hume: Virtue Theorist 13

2 What Kinds of Things Are Virtues and Vices According to Hume 16

3 Hume's First Question in Order of Explanation: What Is It for Something to Be a Virtue? 18

4 The Nature or Definition of Virtue and Vice: Hume's Hypothesis in Brief 19

5 Detailing Hume's Account 29

6 The Nature of Virtue According to This Hypothesis 45

7 Illusory Qualities 50

8 "A Controversy Started of Late" (David Hume) and "The Moral Problem" (Michael Smith) of Late 52

Appendix Virtuous and Vicious Actions 58

III Moral Judgments 62

1 They Are Not, Although They Could Be, What They Seem to Be 62

2 The Good Sense of Sentences of Moral Judgments 67

3 The Bad Sense of Moral Judgments: Their Bogus Propositional Conjuncts 78

4 Difficulties for Nonpropositional Theories of Moral Judgments 83

5 The Function of Moral Language 95

IV Species Bias 102

1 Humes Hypotheses Concerning Moral Distinctions and Judgments 102

2 Evidence for This Theory 103

3 The Human Species Bias of Morality 105

4 Hume's Theory Predicts and Explains This Bias and Addresses Its Proper Measure 107

5 The Moral Innocence of Plants and Animals 108

6 Animal Moralities 110

7 Bias Toward Us of Another Kind 111

Part 2 Normative Theories 113

V Virtues Agreeable and Useful 115

1 A Utilitarian Theory of the Virtues 115

2 Methodology 118

3 Of What Primarily Is Hume's Delineation of Personal Merit a Theory? 125

4 Extending the Theory to Culture-Specific, Local, and Cult Virtues 130

5 The Case for This Utilitarian Theory of the Virtues Is Very Strong 134

6 Relations of Hume's Theory of the Virtues and His Theory of Virtue 135

7 Intrinsic Logic of These Theories 138

8 Tables of Virtues 142

9 Piety 144

10 Gratitude 145

11 Strength of Mind 147

12 Justice and Benevolence 148

Appendix A Contents of Volume II of Essays and Treatises, 1777, the "Advertisement" and "A Dialogue" 156

Appendix B Essentials of Hume's Theory of Morals, But for Its Semantics 161

VI Hume's Theory of Right and Wrong Actions 162

1 Attributing a Theory to Hume 162

2 A Sometimes Actual-Rule, Sometimes Straight Act, Pure Utilitarian Principle of "Right" and "Wrong" for Hume 172

3 Ancillary Accounts of 'Rules of Justice' and Extraordinary Cases 177

4 Texts That Can Suggest Modifications 186

5 Difficulties for the Theory Attributed to Hume 189

6 Looking Ahead 195

Appendix A Contractarian Considerations 196

Appendix B Influencing Motives of Right and Wrong 206

Part 3 An Everywhere Relevant Distinction 211

VII That Species of Utility That Attends Justice 213

1 The Utilities of Benevolence and Justice Compared 213

2 Texts for Distinction 214

3 Apparent Paradox Redux and Texts Featuring Variously Moderating Clauses 216

4 Comparisons of Several Ideas of the Utilities of Acts of Justice that Are Constitutive of Useful Systems or Schemes 218

5 Justice Utility Defined 226

6 Not a Vault, But a Pontoon Bridge, or Better, a Fail-Safe Device 227

7 The Two Problems of How This Species of Utility Is Possible 228

VIII The Logical Possibility of Justice Utility 231

1 Argument for This Possibility 231

2 Toward Explanations of This Possibility 253

Appendix A Hume's Corn Case 270

Appendix B Getting in More Corn 274

IX The Real Possibility of Justice Utility: How Systems with It Come to Be and Are Maintained 277

1 We Are Not Out of the Woods Yet 277

2 Problems of Cooperation and Coordination 279

3 How Did Such Schemes, Especially Schemes of Cooperation, Begin? 289

4 As Society Grows These Schemes Are Maintained Largely by Senses of Duty 307

5 Summing Up 317

Appendix A Getting in the Corn Again and Again 319

Appendix B A Three-Person Prisoners' Dilemma in Which Backward-Conditional Resolutions Would Not Redirect Interests 323

Appendix C Circumstances of Justice 330

Part 4 And now at Last the "First" Question 333

X Our Interested Obligation to Virtue: Why Be Moral? 335

1 It Is a Question Best Left to Last 335

2 The Problem of Part II of the Conclusion, Finely Drawn 337

3 Benevolence and Humanity 347

4 The Problem Is "Why Be Just?" 350

5 What Knaves Are Missing 353

6 Elements for a Nonevasive Case For Justice 357

7 The Case for Justice Assembled 363

8 Glaucon's Problem 368

9 Signing Off 373

Appendix A Richard Hare's Approach to the Question "Why Be Moral?" 374

Appendix B An Amendment After Alasdair MacIntyre 376

Appendix C Humean and Platonic Moral Consciences 377.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-389) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780470127612

0470127619

OCLC:

157023195

Online:

Publisher description