This Is Ethical Theory [Paperback]

Jan Narveson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2010

Ethical questions lie at the very heart of all philosophy, and no one is better equipped to untangle the many facets of ethical theory than respected thinker and professor Jan Narveson. Drawing from theoretical notions as well as everyday applications, Narveson simplifies these nuanced ideas for any beginning ethicist. Discussing theoretical elements ranging from intuitionism to naturalism, emotivism to metaethics, Narveson’s approach to this complex topic is one that any reader will find accessible.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Open Court (January 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812696468
• ISBN-13: 978-0812696462
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,873,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Survey and An Argument., November 15, 2010

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: This Is Ethical Theory (Paperback)

To me, Jan Narveson is one of the most interesting philosophers today. Author of such works as The Libertarian Idea and Respecting Persons in Theory and Practice, Narveson champions a "social contract" view in ethical theory that explains ethics by appeal to all (or mostly) all following a code that best allows each human to flourish as long as others do the same.

This Is Ethical Theory is both a survey of the major ethical (and meta-ethical) positions and a defense, at the end, of a contractarian view of ethics.

The first third or so of the book is devoted to meta-ethics, the question of what things like "good" consist of. Narveson structures most of his discussion around G.E. Moore's non-naturalism, a view which says that "good" is a non-natural property detectable by intuition (rather than "good" being equatable to some natural property, like happiness). Narveson clearly has a problem with Moore's intuitoinism (pointing out several times that if intuition is how we "detect" "the good," then if people have different intuitions, not much can be said, leading to the type of subjectivism that Moore is against). Narveson also goes through several cognitivist views of "the good" ("the good" as rationally discernable), error theory (the view that we are in error when we suppose that "the good" is anything but a human appraisal), etc.

The next section deals with normative morals - positions about how we should morally act. Egoism is no good here because if we should all act for our benefit alone, that seems to (a) be wholly non-conducive to things like settling disputes, and (b) seems to miss the whole point of morality, which is finding a hospitable way to socially interact. Relativism is boring because, while there may be some truth to it, it begs at least the question of why (in the case of, say, cultural relativism) following cultural convention is right in and of itself. Deontology (the view that we have duties to others just by nature of our humanity) has problems with it, as does virtue ethics (which, confirming suspicions I've had, Narveson points out is not incompatible or mutually exclusive to other moral theories like deontology or utilitarianism). Narveson's discussion of utilitarianism is interesting because, some years back, he very publicly converted from being a utilitarian to advocating a contractarian approach to ethics.

That brings us to the final section, where Narveson makes the positive case for a contractarian ethic. In brief, it is the idea that the best moral code is that which allows each of us to pursue our varied ends unmolested by others, as long as others do the same to us. Narveson uses Hobbes and game theory to make his point: Hobbes sees morality (and politics) as an unspoken contract between people in a state of nature that sets up social conventions that allow us all to be secure in our persons and things while making social intercourse possible. Like books such as The Moral Wager: Evolution and Contract (Philosophical Studies Series) and Choice, Contract, Consent: A Restatement of Liberalism (Hobart Paperback,), Narveson uses game-theoretic arguments to argue that moral conventions arise from self-interested folks erecting social rules and norms that ask all of us to restrict certain actions (lying, killing, stealing, cheating, etc) in order to live in a socially regular (and safe) world. Narveson's contractarianism doesn't preclude calling things like charity good, but rather provides a baseline of necessary conditions for what, minimally, is good. (It also provides something of a meta-ethical explanation of what we mean by "good" and "bad").

Anyhow, Narveson is a very good, concise, and informal writer. The organization of this book is very good; it is not too formalistic but not too jumpy. And Narveson's last section is sure to get people, both student and professional, thinking.

A very interesting and enlightening discussion of the crazy field of ethics!

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid introduction and enthusiastically recommended for Philosophy students as well as college library collections, January 16, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is Ethical Theory (Paperback)

Jan Narveson (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Ontario) presents This Is Ethical Theory, a straightforward analysis of ethics and moral theory that covers perspectives including utilitarianism, natural law, egoism, virtue ethics, moral relativism, intuitionism, emotivism, prescriptivism, and more. A solid introduction to diverse branches of ethical theory that scrutinizes the roadblocks and difficulties endemic to each viewpoint, This Is Ethical Theory is a solid introduction and enthusiastically recommended for Philosophy students as well as college library collections.