Morality And Moral Reasoning

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First published in 1971, the five essays in this book were written by young philosophers at Cambridge at that time. They focus on two major questions of ethical theory: ‘What is it to judge morally?’ and ‘What makes a reason a moral reason?’. The book explores the relation of moral judgements to attitudes, emotions and beliefs as well as the notions of expression, agency, and moral responsibility.

The philosophical tradition has given rise to many competing moral theories. Virtue ethics encourages the flourishing of the person, theories of justice and rights tell us to act according to principles, and consequentialist theories advise that we seek to bring about good ends. These varied theories highlight the morally relevant features of the problems that we encounter both in everyday personal interactions and on a broader social scale. When used together, they allow us to address moral conflicts by balancing a plurality of reasons in order to reach nuanced ethical decisions. In Ethical Reasoning: Theory and Application, Andrew Kernohan guides the reader through the basics of these moral theories, showing their strengths and weaknesses and emphasizing the ways in which competing moral reasons can be collectively employed to guide decision-making. Throughout, the focus is on practical applications and on how each theory can play a role in solving problems and addressing issues. Numerous questions and exercises are provided to encourage active reflection and retention of information.

Examines how practical reasoning can be put into the service of ethical and moral theory.

This book deals with moral dilemmas and the development of ethical reasoning in two senses. First, the editor focuses on dilemmas, both real and hypothetical, which require moral judgments. The ""Heinz dilemma,"" part of Kohlberg's scoring system for level of moral development, is in some cases used as a point of departure for discussion. Problems with this particular dilemma as a scoring item are examined in detail, along with problems generated by similar dilemmas for moral reasoning in everyday life.Those who study moral reasoning and its development are in somewhat of a dilemma as they attempt to integrate information from the domains of philosophy and psychology. These essays investigate domain issues in varied cultural settings, and across genders and age ranges for what have been proposed as universals in moral judgment, as well as formulate theories that reflect both empirical evidence and logical process.The essays share a conception of human nature as inherently social, as well as a healthy respect for the problems or dilemmas which human sociality carries in its wake. Some of these problems are theoretical, such as those having to do with the moral reasoning or the classic issues of values justification. Other problems are practical, such as those having to do with distributive justice or methods of moral education. This volume will shed light on the process of resolving dilemmas both within philosophy and psychology.

Every day we are faced with moral dilemmas in both our personal and professional lives. The choices we make, the ways in which we behave, and our responses to these dilemmas are grounded in our personal understandings of ethics and morality. But this understanding is not black and white: What is deplorable to one person may be perfectly acceptable to another. In Moral Reasoning: Rediscovering the Ethical Tradition, author Louis Groarke guides readers through a honing of their critical skills in moral analysis by providing a rich, deep, and far-reaching overview of the discipline. He offers a careful, in-depth introduction to the many schools of moral thought that have contributed to Western philosophy and to the teachings of great moral thinkers such as Confucius, Socrates, Epicurus, Aristotle, Jesus, Epictetus, Aquinas, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, and Kierkegaard. This wide-ranging text considers these many different perspectives on morality with the goal of building up one coherent, larger view. Text-wide inclusion of contemporary examples drawing on these classical ideas fosters critical reflection about today's important moral questions and encourages readers to develop their own considered views that go beyond peer pressure and ideology.

This book of essays focuses on the new approaches to moral issues from two perspectives. The first part, ‘Various Concepts of Morality’, analyses certain central approaches to moral study, and creates the methodological starting point for the more specific enquiries of the second part. ‘New Trends in Understanding Morality’ contains five articles focusing on these new approaches, especially as they are related to their conceptions of scientific knowledge. This section deals with selected special issues of morality in biology, natural sciences, but also in humanities.