Bibliographic Information

Beyond morality

Richard Garner

(Ethics and action)

Temple University Press, c1994

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

Available at  / 8 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 385-396) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9781566390767

Description

"Morality and religion have failed because they are based on duplicity and fantasy. We need something new..." With this startling statement, Richard Garner begins to define a system of behavior that will nurture our capabilities for love and language, for creation and cooperation. The satisfying personal and social strategy for living Garner proposes is "informed, compassionate amoralism." To do without morality, he argues, is to reject the idea that there are intrinsic values, objective duties, and natural rights. Leaving illusions behind us and learning to listen to others and to ourselves may be what we need to lead us out of the darkness. Garner builds his case on a survey of moral definitions and arguments from ancient Greece forward. "Beyond Morality" revisits the tenets of Christianity and Eastern religious, providing readers with a meaningful overview of the history of moral thought. Quotations illuminate and illustrate the text, adding to the value of "Beyond Morality" as a textbook for ethics courses. Richard Garner is Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction 1. Moral Arguments and Morality Conversations and Conventions * Moral Discussions * Moral Philosophy * The Burden of Proof * Moral, Amoral, and Immoral 2. Doubts about Morality Dogmatism * Universalism * Relativism * Skepticism * Non-Cognitivism * The Function-of-Language Argument * Anti-Realism * First Conclusion 3. Morality and Its Denial A Literary Example and a Warning * Moralism versus Amoralism * What Is the Difference between Moralism and Amoralism? 4. History, Hallucinations, and Human Nature Original Humans * Hobbes * Rousseau * Human Nature * Human History * Agriculture, Cities, and the Goddess * Murder in Mesopotamia * Law: Marduk and Hammurabi * Divine Messages * Explaining the Messages * Early Morality 5. Moralism and Amoralism in India The Aryans * The Vedas * The Upanishads * Karma and Reincarnation * Heterodoxies * Carvaka * Jainism * Buddhism * Persuasive Definitions * Moralism and Indian Thought 6. Moralism and Amoralism in China Confucianism * Moism * Daoism * Mencius * The School of Names * The Yin-Yang School * Legalism * Buddhism in China * Moralism and Chinese Thought 7. Moralism and Amoralism in Greece Minoans and Mycenaeans * The Aryan Harvest * 'Agathos' and Its Persuasive Definition * Hesiod * Government and War * The Philosophers * Socrates and Plato * Justice and the Republic * The Theory of Forms * Aristotle * Moralism and Greek Thought 8. Gods and Religious Morality The Enforcers * Some Unfamiliar Deities * Revelation and Divination * What to Believe? * The Genetic Fallacy Fallacy * God-based Moralism 9. Experience and Reason: Secular Morality Rationalist Attempts to Make a Secular Morality * Empiricist Attempts to Make a Secular Morality * David Hume * Richard Price and Thomas Reid * Immanuel Kant * Intuitionism * Making Moralism True by Definition * Conclusion 10. A Survey of Moral Theories Metaethics * Normative Ethics * Value * Obligation * Rights * Virtue * Conclusion 11. Amoralists, Critics, Pseudo-Amoralists, and Backsliders The Amoralist Need Not Be an Immoral, Heartless, Selfish Jerk Who Denies the Obvious * Some Responses to the Amoralist * Pseudo-Amoralists and Backsliders * The Amoralist * What Is Wrong with Morality? 12. Desires and Emotions What to Do about Desires and Emotions * One Extreme: Eliminate Desires and Emotions * The Other Extreme: Indulge Desires and Emotions * A Middle Way * Another Middle Way * Conclusion 13. Decisions, Control, and Harmony Making Decisions * The Bicameral Brain Again * Socialization * Force and Control * The Way of Harmony 14. Language, Truth, and Non-Duplicity Language * Truth * Non-Duplicity 15. Applied Amoralism Applied Ethics * The Alternative--Applied Amoralism * The Questions * Last Conclusion Works Cited Index
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9781566391085

Description

"Morality and religion have failed because they are based on duplicity and fantasy. We need something new..." With this startling statement, Richard Garner begins to define a system of behavior that will nurture our capabilities for love and language, for creation and cooperation. The satisfying personal and social strategy for living Garner proposes is "informed, compassionate amoralism." To do without morality, he argues, is to reject the idea that there are intrinsic values, objective duties, and natural rights. Leaving illusions behind us and learning to listen to others and to ourselves may be what we need to lead us out of the darkness. Garner builds his case on a survey of moral definitions and arguments from ancient Greece forward. "Beyond Morality" revisits the tenets of Christianity and Eastern religious, providing readers with a meaningful overview of the history of moral thought. Quotations illuminate and illustrate the text, adding to the value of "Beyond Morality" as a textbook for ethics courses. Richard Garner is Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction 1. Moral Arguments and Morality Conversations and Conventions * Moral Discussions * Moral Philosophy * The Burden of Proof * Moral, Amoral, and Immoral 2. Doubts about Morality Dogmatism * Universalism * Relativism * Skepticism * Non-Cognitivism * The Function-of-Language Argument * Anti-Realism * First Conclusion 3. Morality and Its Denial A Literary Example and a Warning * Moralism versus Amoralism * What Is the Difference between Moralism and Amoralism? 4. History, Hallucinations, and Human Nature Original Humans * Hobbes * Rousseau * Human Nature * Human History * Agriculture, Cities, and the Goddess * Murder in Mesopotamia * Law: Marduk and Hammurabi * Divine Messages * Explaining the Messages * Early Morality 5. Moralism and Amoralism in India The Aryans * The Vedas * The Upanishads * Karma and Reincarnation * Heterodoxies * Carvaka * Jainism * Buddhism * Persuasive Definitions * Moralism and Indian Thought 6. Moralism and Amoralism in China Confucianism * Moism * Daoism * Mencius * The School of Names * The Yin-Yang School * Legalism * Buddhism in China * Moralism and Chinese Thought 7. Moralism and Amoralism in Greece Minoans and Mycenaeans * The Aryan Harvest * 'Agathos' and Its Persuasive Definition * Hesiod * Government and War * The Philosophers * Socrates and Plato * Justice and the Republic * The Theory of Forms * Aristotle * Moralism and Greek Thought 8. Gods and Religious Morality The Enforcers * Some Unfamiliar Deities * Revelation and Divination * What to Believe? * The Genetic Fallacy Fallacy * God-based Moralism 9. Experience and Reason: Secular Morality Rationalist Attempts to Make a Secular Morality * Empiricist Attempts to Make a Secular Morality * David Hume * Richard Price and Thomas Reid * Immanuel Kant * Intuitionism * Making Moralism True by Definition * Conclusion 10. A Survey of Moral Theories Metaethics * Normative Ethics * Value * Obligation * Rights * Virtue * Conclusion 11. Amoralists, Critics, Pseudo-Amoralists, and Backsliders The Amoralist Need Not Be an Immoral, Heartless, Selfish Jerk Who Denies the Obvious * Some Responses to the Amoralist * Pseudo-Amoralists and Backsliders * The Amoralist * What Is Wrong with Morality? 12. Desires and Emotions What to Do about Desires and Emotions * One Extreme: Eliminate Desires and Emotions * The Other Extreme: Indulge Desires and Emotions * A Middle Way * Another Middle Way * Conclusion 13. Decisions, Control, and Harmony Making Decisions * The Bicameral Brain Again * Socialization * Force and Control * The Way of Harmony 14. Language, Truth, and Non-Duplicity Language * Truth * Non-Duplicity 15. Applied Amoralism Applied Ethics * The Alternative - Applied Amoralism * The Questions * Last Conclusion Works Cited Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Related Books: 1-1 of 1

Details

  • NCID
    BA24389764
  • ISBN
    • 1566390761
    • 1566391083
  • LCCN
    93007399
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Philadelphia
  • Pages/Volumes
    xiii, 404 p.
  • Size
    23 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
Page Top