Moral teleology : a theory of progress / Hanno Sauer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sauer, Hanno, author.

Series:

Routledge studies in ethics and moral theory.

Routledge studies in ethics and moral theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics, Evolutionary.

Teleology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 pages)

Edition:

1 ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, [2023]

Summary:

"This book develops a unified theory of moral progress. The author argues that there are mechanisms in place that consistently drive societies towards moral improvement and that a sophisticated, naturalistically respectable form of teleology can be defended. The book's main aim is to flesh out the process of moral progress in more detail, and to show how, when the right mechanisms and institutions of moral progress are matched together, they create pressure for the desired types of moral gains to manifest. The first part of the book deals with two issues: the conceptual one about what moral progress is, and the broadly empirical one whether it is possible. It shows that cultural evolution successfully explains the origins of modern forms of morally welcome change. The second part argues that there is logical space for a moderate, scientifically credible form of teleology, and that the converse case for moral decline is weak. It addresses the types, drivers and institutions of moral progress that allow for the storage, transmission and cumulative improvement of our normative infrastructure over time. Finally, the third part demonstrates why moral progress cannot be accounted for in metaethically realist terms. Moral Teleology will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in ethics, moral epistemology and moral psychology"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Introduction

1 The Shape of Things to Come: What Is Moral Progress?

1.1 The Concept of Moral Progress

1.2 But Is It Progress?

1.3 Local and Global

1.4 Individual and Collective

1.5 Wide and Narrow

1.6 Moral Regress

1.7 One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

1.8 Regress for All!

1.9 Imperfect Allies

1.10 The Princess and the Pea

2 Butchering Benevolence: Is Moral Progress Possible?

2.1 The Limits of Concern

2.2 From Evolution to Conservatism

2.3 A Conservative Advantage?

2.4 The Wrong Kind of Progress

2.5 Does Evolution Constrain Moral Progress?

3 The End of Utopia: Does Moral Progress Have a Goal?

3.1 Naturalizing Teleology?

3.2 Normative Ambivalence

3.3 What Is Teleology, Anyway?

(i) Directionality

(ii) Agency

(iii) Probability

(iv) Morality

(v) Transparency

(vi) Scale

(vii) Uniqueness

(viii) Timing

3.4 Taking Teleology Seriously

4 Looking Forward: Towards Teleology 2.0

4.1 The Case for Decline

4.2 Debunking Teleology? Anti-Narrativism

4.3 The New Optimism: Empirical Evidence for Progress

4.4 The Cunning of Reason: Teleology Without Goals

4.5 The Arc(s) of History

4.6 Circularity and Smugness

5 Beyond Expansion: Which Types of Moral Progress Are There?

5.1 Well-Being

5.2 Equality

5.3 Moral Status: The Expanding Circle

5.4 Moral Status: The Contracting Circle

5.5 Liberty and Autonomy

5.6 Fewer Bad Norms

5.7 More Good Norms

5.8 Improved Compliance

5.9 Improved Moral Knowledge

5.10 Moral Progress: Towards a Systematic Typology

5.11 Evolutionary Conservatism Again

6 Mechanisms of Moral Evolution: What Drives Moral Progress?

6.1 Energy Capture, Group Size, and Technology: Material Mechanisms.

6.2 Social Integration: Functionalistic Mechanisms

6.3 Knowledge and Information: Epistemic Mechanisms

6.4 Crisis and Struggle: Social Movements

6.5 New Norms: Experiments in Living

7 Unsocial Sociability: How Can Moral Progress Be Sustained?

7.1 Intelligent Design

7.2 Storage and Retrieval: Mechanisms of Transmission

7.3 Norms and Practices

7.4 The Socially Extended Mind

7.5 Institutions Rule

7.6 Institutional Bypassing

7.7 Proxy Institutions

7.8 Ameliorative Institutions

7.9 Slow Institutions?

7.10 Reflexive Institutions

7.11 Extracting Norms From Institutions

8 The Long March: Does Moral Progress Require Moral Facts?

8.1 From Moral Progress to Moral Facts: The Simple Argument

8.2 The Case of Conversion

8.3 A Realist Account of Moral Progress

8.4 Anti-Realism: Moral and Scientific Progress, Functionalism, and Problem-Solving

8.5 Moral Convergence

8.6 The Fact of Moral Universalism

(1) Basic Evaluative Dispositions

(2) Cooperative Strategies

(3) Cross-Cultural Values

(4) Political Values

8.7 Realism Requires Disagreement

Scientific and Moral Knowledge

Everyday Knowledge and Moral Knowledge

Easy Moral Knowledge

Moral Expertise

Counterattack

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781003375753

1003375758

9781000899566

100089956X

9781000899603

1000899608

OCLC:

1376931373

Publisher Number:

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003375753