Materialist ethics and life-value / Jeff Noonan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Noonan, Jeff.

Series:

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of ideas ; 56.

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of ideas ; 56

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Materialism.

Physical Description:

xii, 238 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Montréal : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2012]

Summary:

Current patterns of global economic activity are not only unsustainable, but unethical - this claim is central to Materialist Ethics and Life-Value. Grounding the definition of ethical value in the natural and social requirements of life-support and life-development shared by all human beings, Jeff Noonan provides a new way of understanding the universal conception of "the good life."

Noonan argues that the true crisis affecting the world today is not sluggish rates of economic growth but the model of measuring economic and social health in terms of money-value. In response, he develops an alternative understanding of good societies where the breadth and depth of life-activity and enjoyment are dependent on dominant institutions. The more social institutions satisfy the necessary requirements of human life, the more they empower each person to develop and enjoy the capacities that make human life valuable and meaningful.

A well-reasoned synthesis of traditional philosophical concerns and contemporary critiques of global capitalism, this book is a forward-looking treatise that defends political struggle and reconsiders what is most important to the good life. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part One Materialism, Human Finitude, and Ethics

1 Materialism 17

2 The Life-Ground of Value in Human Life-Requirements 46

Part Two Life-Grounded Materialist Ethical Criticism

3 The Emergence of System-Requirements 89

4 The Life-Blind Logic of Social Expansion 107

5 The Instrumentalization of Life-Value: The Material Irrationality of Global Capitalism 134

Part Three Life-Grounded Materialist Ethics and the Human Good

6 The Human Good as Free Life-Capacity Expression and Enjoyment 183.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780773539648

0773539646

9780773539655

0773539654

OCLC:

760370393