Thoreau's living ethics : Walden and the pursuit of virtue / Philip Cafaro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cafaro, Philip, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Virtues in literature.

Virtues.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Ethics.

Thoreau, Henry David.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862. Walden.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Thoreau's Living Ethics is the first full, rigorous account of Henry Thoreau's ethical philosophy. Focused on Walden but ranging widely across his writings, the study situates Thoreau within a long tradition of ethical thinking in the West, from the ancients to the Romantics and on to the present day. Philip Cafaro shows Thoreau grappling with important ethical questions that agitated his own society and discusses his value for those seeking to understand contemporary ethical issues. Cafaro's particular interest is in Thoreau's treatment of virtue ethics: the branch of ethics centered on personal and social flourishing. Ranging across the central elements of Thoreau's philosophy-life, virtue, economy, solitude and society, nature, and politics-Cafaro shows Thoreau developing a comprehensive virtue ethics, less based in ancient philosophy than many recent efforts and more grounded in modern life and experience. He presents Thoreau's evolutionary, experimental ethics as superior to the more static foundational efforts of current virtue ethicists. Another main focus is Thoreau's environmental ethics. The book shows Thoreau not only anticipating recent arguments for wild nature's intrinsic value, but also demonstrating how a personal connection to nature furthers self-development, moral character, knowledge, and creativity. Thoreau's life and writings, argues Cafaro, present a positive, life-affirming environmental ethics, combining respect and restraint with an appreciation for human possibilities for flourishing within nature.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

The Challenge

First Responses

Life

Awakening

Self-Culture

Our Chief End

The Good Life

Higher Goals

Pleasure and Intellect

Virtue

Recovering the Ancient Concept of Virtue

Recovering the Pursuit of Virtue

Recovering Full Human Virtue

Romantic Virtue

Virtue and Duty

Resolution

Economy

First Things First

Economy as Method and Metaphor

The Train to Fitchburg

The Bean Field

Solitude and Society

The Virtues of Solitude

Neighbors

Friendship

Emerson and Thoreau

Nature

Fishy Virtue

Higher Laws

The Ponds

Challenges

Conservation

Politics

Anti-slavery

Citizenship

Heroism

Anti-mammonism

Patriotism

Foundations

Thoreau's Naturalism

Thoreau's Idealism

Thoreau's Experimentalism

Philosophical Foundations

Death

A Note to the Reader

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-263) and index.

ISBN:

9781282553293

1282553291

9780820336664

0820336661

OCLC:

593295507