Moral Certainty and the Foundations of Morality

by Neil O'Hara

Overview

What lies at the foundation of our moral beliefs? If we dig down far enough do we find that our moral values have no ground at all to stand on, and so are apt to collapse upon serious philosophical investigation? This book seeks to answer these and related questions by positing an indubitable foundation for our moral beliefs – they arise from the phenomenon of ‘primary recognition’, and are fundamentally shaped by ‘basic moral certainties’. Drawing on philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Knud Ejler Løgstrup, this book draws together insights from both Analytic and Continental philosophy to provide a convincing new picture of our moral foundations. And it does so in a way that eschews moral conservativism and opens the way for a rich understanding of the variety and particularity of our human moral systems, while also keeping a significant place for those moral beliefs that occur universally, across cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319754437
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	03/16/2018
Edition description:	1st ed. 2018
Pages:	203
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Neil O’Hara has been Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire,UK, where he completed his PhD. His primary research concerns metaethics, the latter Wittgenstein, and the moral philosophy of Knud Ejler Løgstrup.

Table of Contents

Preface.- 1. Basic Certainty and Morality.- 2. Primary Recognition and Morality.- 3. Morality as Other-Regarding.- 4. Universal Moral Certainty.- 5. Local Moral Certainty.- 6. Implications for Current Metaethics.- 7. Conclusion.