"The Unthinkable" in Ethics, History and Philosophical Anthropology: A Pragmatic-Transcendental View

by Sami Pihlström

Overview

What we find 'unthinkable' is not seriously considered as an ethical option in our thought and deliberation; it is ruled out from the outset. Combining a broadly pragmatist approach with a Kantian-inspired transcendental strategy, Sami Pihlström distinguishes between what is considered 'unthinkable' and what is merely ethically wrong.

Pihlström demonstrates how different issues concerning the unthinkable vs the thinkable, ranging from the proper ethical response to the Holocaust to philosophical considerations of monstrous characters familiar in gothic fiction, may challenge the categories we use to structure the world. In particular, he makes the case that it is unthinkable for us to reject the kind of 'human exceptionalism' that attributes an ineliminable dignity or preciousness to human beings. Chapters also explore the complex relationship between our responses to human suffering and the suffering of non-human animals, together with questions concerning the philosophy of war and pacifism.

'The Unthinkable' in Ethics, History and Philosophical Anthropology turns our attention to the ethically and ontologically constitutive character of the boundaries we draw between the thinkable and the unthinkable, while utilizing conceptual and argumentative resources from the Wittgensteinian tradition in moral philosophy, particularly from the work of Raimond Gaita. An original and timely study, it will be welcomed by students and scholars interested in the fundamental ethical issues of human life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350506541
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/06/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	674 KB

About the Author

Sami Pihlström is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Sami Pihlström is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His recent books include Why Solipsism Matters (2020), Pragmatist Truth in the Post-Truth Age (2021), Toward a Pragmatist Philosophy of the Humanities (2022), Humanism, Antitheodicism, and the Critique of Meaning in Pragmatist Philosophy of Religion (2023), and the edited volume, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Pragmatism (2024).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Toward a Pragmatic Transcendental Philosophy of the Unthinkable
2. The Unthinkable as Ontologically Constitutive (of “Us”): The Ethical Structures of History and the Unique Reality of the Holocaust
3. The Unthinkable as Ethically Constitutive: Human Exceptionalism and Otherness
4. From modus ponens to modus tollens: Beyond the Limits of (Philosophical) Argumentation
5. Living Forward in a Shared World: The Philosophy of Pacifism, War, and Genocide
6. Concluding Remarks on our Inescapable Humanism
Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

A profound insight into the conditions underlying the debate about the 'ethically unthinkable' by one of the most distinctive representatives of contemporary pragmatism. Pihlstrom leads us to understand the relevance of ethics, philosophy, religion, history, anthropology, culture, and politics in our present context.” —Krzysztof (Chris) Piotr Skowronski, Associate Professor, University of Opole, Poland

“Long ago, in his groundbreaking work, Good and Evil, Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita, summarising Socrates, wrote: “for someone who understands the nature of evil, certain deeds and thoughts are not an option.” Following Gaita, though not slavishly but critically, Professor Pihlström gives this Socratic insight his own unique transcendental-pragmatist inflection before applying it to a range of cases involving our relations with the suffering other. The result is a rich and illuminating defence of the 'unthinkable' as the very condition of possibility of an ethical life grounded in the commitment to our 'common humanity'” —Nick Trakakis, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Australian Catholic University, Australia

“"The Unthinkable" in Ethics, History and Philosophical Anthropology is a perfect example of Sami Pihlström's original combination of pragmatism and transcendental philosophy to address new and relevant problems. In it, Pihlström argues that the distinction between what is ethically wrong and what is unthinkable helps us defining the boundaries and conditions of our moral discourse.” —Gabriele Gava, Associate Professor, University of Turin, Italy

“"The Unthinkable" in Ethics, History and Philosophical Anthropology by Professor Sami Pihlström is a rich and important investigation into the ethical contours of the thinkable and the unthinkable. Evil deeds, warfare, extraordinary suffering, and so on-cultural realities that historiography and other human sciences investigate-are never judged and understood independently of ethical considerations about the world we live in.” —Natan Elgabsi, Researcher of Philosophy, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

“Sami PihlStrom develops an original and compelling argument that a transcendental pragmatism is the best perspective from which to appreciate the importantance to philosophical reflection of the concept of the unthinkable, in its many forms. We need, he says, a transcendental (though not a transcendent) account of morality from within morality” that acknowledges “our “inescapable historicity”, “the ultimate contingency of transcendental necessity”, while avoiding relativism. 'The Unthinkable' in Ethics, History and Anthropology will deepen our understanding of what has happened to contemporary democratic societies in which “the unthinkable has become realised”, in which what was ethically undiscussable is now propounded. It will help us to think beyond the distorting simplification of the culture wars about 'political correctness' and freedom of expression.” —Raimond Gaita, Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, King's College London, UK

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