Pragmatic reasons : a defense of morality and epistemology / Jeremy Randal Koons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Koons, Jeremy Randel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pragmatism.

Ethics.

Physical Description:

viii, 292 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, [2009]

Summary:

We daily classify actions by their morality and their voluntariness, and beliefs by their rationality. But in light of persistent skepticism about morality, free will, and (to a lesser extent) epistemology, we must ask what justifies us in making these various claims. This book defends a sophisticated version of pragmatism, resting on a novel account of strategy-based (as opposed to act-based) cooperative rationality. It shows that we can give a genuinely pragmatist account of morality and epistemology, while denying that truth is mere usefulness and maintaining the connection between truth and objectivity. The sophisticated pragmatist approach is particularly fruitful in that we can justify a range of important practices, including our practices of moral and epistemic evaluation, as well as our practice of making judgments regarding free will and moral responsibility.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Part I Pragmatism and Normativity

2 Pragmatism, Causal Explanation, and Normative Facts 13

3 Pragmatism and Rationality 46

4 Pragmatism, Normativity, and Relativism 92

Part II Pragmatism and Morality

5 Pragmatism, Interests, and Morality 121

6 Pragmatism, Freedom, and Responsibility 152

Part III Pragmatism and Epistemology

7 Pragmatism and Epistemology 189

8 Pragmatism, Internalism, and Externalism 234.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230576964

0230576966

OCLC:

298778348