Kirjahaku

Is unethical conduct necessarily irrational? Answering this question requires giving an account of practical reason, of practical good, and of the source or point of wrongdoing. By the time most contemporary philosophers have done the first two, they have lost sight of the third, chalking up bad action to rashness, weakness of will, or ignorance. In this book, Candace Vogler does all three, taking as her guides scholars who contemplated why some people perform evil deeds. In doing so, she sets out to at once engage and redirect contemporary debates about ethics, practical reason, and normativity.Staged as a limited defense of a standard view of practical reason (an ancestor of contemporary instrumentalist views), Vogler's essay develops Aquinas's remark about three ways an action might be desirable into an exhaustive system for categorizing reasons for acting. Drawing on Elizabeth Anscombe's pioneering work on intention, Vogler argues that one sort (means/end or calculative reasons for acting) sets the terms for all sound work on practical rationality. She takes up Aquinas's work on evil throughout, arguing that he provides us with a systematic theory of immorality that takes seriously the goods at issue in wrongdoing and the reasons for unethical conduct. Vogler argues that, shorn of its theological context, this theory leaves us with no systematic, uncontroversial way of arguing that wrongdoing is necessarily contrary to reason.

Elizabeth Anscombe (1919-2001) is increasingly regarded as a major philosopher of the post-war period. Her 1957 book Intention effectively launched contemporary philosophy of action and her article 'Modern Moral Philosophy' is regarded a founding document of virtue ethics. She also translated Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations into English, bringing his work to worldwide attention. However, her work can be difficult to approach for the first time. In this outstanding, comprehensive introduction to her thought Candace Vogler examines and assesses the following key topics: a biographical overview of Anscombe's life, including her conversion to Catholicism and friendship with Wittgensteinthe importance of practical philosophy in Anscombe's work and the influence of Aristotle and AquinasAnscombe's account of intentional action and reasons for acting in Intentionher theories and arguments concerning virtue and virtue ethics and their roots in her reading of Aquinasthe question of authority and the related problems of orders and obedience in Anscombe's writings on ethics, religion and politicsher deep engagement with major figures in the history of philosophy such as Hume, Frege, Russell and Wittgensteinthe legacy of Anscombe's thought and the challenges it poses for contemporary philosophy.The addition of chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of technical terms make this an indispensable introduction to Anscombe's thought as well as essential reading for students and scholars of Twentieth century philosophy, philosophy of action and ethics.

Elizabeth Anscombe (1919-2001) is increasingly regarded as a major philosopher of the post-war period. Her 1957 book Intention effectively launched contemporary philosophy of action and her article 'Modern Moral Philosophy' is regarded a founding document of virtue ethics. She also translated Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations into English, bringing his work to worldwide attention. However, her work can be difficult to approach for the first time. In this outstanding, comprehensive introduction to her thought Candace Vogler examines and assesses the following key topics: a biographical overview of Anscombe's life, including her conversion to Catholicism and friendship with Wittgensteinthe importance of practical philosophy in Anscombe's work and the influence of Aristotle and AquinasAnscombe's account of intentional action and reasons for acting in Intentionher theories and arguments concerning virtue and virtue ethics and their roots in her reading of Aquinasthe question of authority and the related problems of orders and obedience in Anscombe's writings on ethics, religion and politicsher deep engagement with major figures in the history of philosophy such as Hume, Frege, Russell and Wittgensteinthe legacy of Anscombe's thought and the challenges it poses for contemporary philosophy.The addition of chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of technical terms make this an indispensable introduction to Anscombe's thought as well as essential reading for students and scholars of Twentieth century philosophy, philosophy of action and ethics.