Reclaiming the History of Ethics: Essays for John Rawls

by Andrews Reath, Barbara Herman, Christine M. Korsgaard

Overview

The essays in this volume offer an approach to the history of moral and political philosophy that takes its inspiration from John Rawls. The distinctive feature of this approach is to address substantive normative questions in moral and political philosophy through an analysis of the texts and theories of major figures in the history of the subject: Aristotle, Hobbes, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, and Marx. By reconstructing the core of these theories in a way that is informed by contemporary theoretical concerns, the contributors show how the history of the subject is a resource for understanding present and perennial problems in moral and political philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521472401
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/13/1997
Pages:	428
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

1. Aristotle on the soul's conflict: towards an understanding of virtue ethics Marcia L. Homiak; 2. Coercion, ideology and education in Hobbes's Leviathan Sharon A. Lloyd; 3. The Hobbesian side of Hume Jean Hampton; 4. The natural goodness of humanity Joshua Cohen; 5. Metaphysics, philosophy: Rousseau on the problem of evil Susan Neiman; 6. Within the limits of reason Onora O'Neill; 7. A cosmopolitan kingdom of ends Barbara Herman; 8. Legislating for a realm of ends: the social dimension of autonomy Andrews Reath; 9. Kant on the objectivity of moral law Adrian M. S. Piper; 10. Kantian virtue: priggish or passional? Nancy Sherman; 11. Taking the law into our own hands: Kant on the right to revolution Christine M. Korsgaard; 12. Kant on aesthetic and biological purposiveness Hannah Ginsborg; 13. Kant on ends and the meaning of life Thomas W. Pogge; 14. Community and completion David Brudney.

Editorial Reviews

"...a rich and...thought-provoking collection." Susan Dwyer, Philosophy in Review

"This book fulfills its promise to reclaim the history of ethics. Each of the essays throws light on the present and, directly or indirectly, on Rawls's thinking." Charles Kelbley, International Philosophical Quarterly

"...offers an impressive picture of the flourishing end-of-millennium Harvard-trained writing in the history of moral philsophy." Martino Traxler, Review of Metaphysics

"This is a first-rate collection whose publication should spur Rawls to publish his own writing on the history of philosophy, which have been circulating as samizdats for many years now." Daniel M. Weinstock, Canadian Journal of Political Science

From the Publisher