Ethics and the quest for wisdom / Robert Kane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kane, Robert, 1938- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics, Modern.

Ethics.

Wisdom.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 287 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Ethics & the Quest for Wisdom

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Modernity has challenged the ancient ideal of a universal quest for wisdom, and today's world of conflicting cultures and values has raised further doubts regarding the possibility of objective ethical standards. Robert Kane refocuses the debate on the philosophical quest for wisdom, and argues that ethical principles about right action and the good life can be seen to emerge from that very quest itself. This book contends that the search for wisdom involves a persistent striving to overcome narrowness of vision that comes from the inevitable limitations of finite points of view. When applied to questions of value and the good life, this striving has ethical implications about the way we should treat ourselves and others. This study argues for the merits of this central thesis against alternative theories in contemporary normative ethics, and discusses its practical applications for social ethics, political philosophy, law and moral education.

Contents:

1. Introduction: pluralism and uncertainty

2. Openness

3. The retreat

4. The moral sphere

5. Fact and value

6. Value experiments

7. Virtues, excellences and forms of life

8. The fourth dimension

9. Aspiration

10. Wisdom

11. Objective worth

12. The Bach crystals

13. Human flourishing

14. The Faust legend and the mosaic

15. The good and the right (I): intuitionism and Kantianism

16. The good and the right (II): utilitarianism and consequentialism

17. The good and the right (III): contractualism

18. Politics, public morality and law: justice, care and virtue.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-85040-9

1-107-20575-1

1-282-77048-9

9786612770487

0-511-78887-8

0-511-78961-0

0-511-78700-6

0-511-78586-0

0-511-76291-7

0-511-78814-2

OCLC:

663861907