Treatise on Basic Philosophy

The purpose of this Introduction is to sketch our approach to the study of value, morality and action, and to show the place we assign it in the system of human knowledge. 1. VALUE, MORALITY AND ACTION: FACT, THEORY, AND METATHEORY We take it that all animals evaluate some things and some processes, and that some of them learn the social behavior patterns we call 'moral principles', and even act according to them at least some of the time. An animal incapable of evaluating anything would be very short-lived; and a social animal that did not observe the accepted social behavior patterns would be punished. These are facts about values, morals and behavior patterns: they are incorporated into the bodies of animals or the structure of social groups. We distinguish then the facts of valuation, morality and action from the study of such facts. This study can be scientific, philosophic or both. wayan animal evaluates environmental A zoologist may investigate the or internal stimuli; a social psychologist may examine the way children learn, or fail to learn, certain values and norms when placed in certain environments. And a philosopher may study such descriptive or explan­ atory studies, with a view to evaluating valuations, moral norms, or behavior patterns; he may analyze the very concepts of value, morals and action, as well as their cognates; or he may criticize or reconstruct value beliefs, moral norms and action plans.

Contenu

of Ethics.- 1. Value, Morality and Action: Fact, Theory, and Metatheory.- 2. Basic Schema of Values, Norms and Actions.- 3. Relations between Axiology, Ethics and Action Theory.- 4. The Task.- I Values.- 1. Roots of Values.- 1. Nature and Kinds of Value.- 1.1 Nature of Value.- 1.2 Kinds of Value.- 1.3 Summary.- 2. Value Sources.- 2.1 Biovalue.- 2.2 Psychovalue.- 2.3 Sociovalue.- 2.4 Summary.- 3. Needs, Wants, and Values.- 3.1 Basic Needs and Legitimate Wants.- 3.2 Values.- 3.3 Value Categories and Orders.- 3.4 Summary.- 2. Welfare.- 1. Welfare and Happiness.- 1.1 From Bentham to Decision Theory.- 1.2 Definitions.- 1.3 Postulates.- 1.4 Social Welfare.- 1.5 Summary.- 2. Value Conflict and Change.- 2.1 Value Conflict.- 2.2 Ideals.- 2.3 The Summum Bonum.- 2.4 Summary.- 3. Value Theory.- 1. Analysis.- 1.1 Intrinsic and Instrumental.- 1.2 Absolute and Relative.- 1.3 Objective and Subjective.- 1.4 Individual and Social.- 1.5 Fact and Value.- 1.6 Summary.- 2. Value and Knowledge.- 2.1 Semantic and Epistemological Status.- 2.2 Values and Science.- 2.3 Values and Technology.- 2.4 Summary.- 3. Value Measures and Calculi.- 3.1 Objective Value of a Generic Item.- 3.2 Objective Value of Systems and Processes.- 3.3 Subjective Value (Utility).- 3.4 Value Calculi.- 3.5 Summary.- II Morals.- 4. Roots of Morals.- 1. Rights and Duties.- 1.1 Right and Duty.- 1.2 Rights Imply Duties.- 1.3 Summary.- 2. Morals.- 2.1 Right and Wrong Actions.- 2.2 Moral Problems.- 2.3 Morals.- 2.4 Summary.- 3. Sources and Functions of Morals.- 3.1 Biological.- 3.2 Psychological.- 3.3 Social.- 3.4 Summary.- 5. Morality Changes.- 1. Development and Evolution.- 1.1 Nature and Nurture.- 1.2 Origin and Breakdown of Norms.- 1.3 Summary.- 2. The Human Condition.- 2.1 Human Nature.- 2.2 Competition.- 2.3 Cooperation.- 2.4 Summary.- 3. Morality Changes.- 3.1 Evolution of Mores and Morals.- 3.2 The Current Moral Crisis.- 3.3 Summary.- 6. Some Moral Issues.- 1. Private Morals.- 1.1 Three Moral Spheres.- 1.2 Life and Death.- 1.3 Virtue and Sin.- 1.4 Ten Virtues.- 1.5 Desert and Reward, Crime and Punishment.- 1.6 Summary.- 2. Public Morals.- 2.1 Human Survival Issues.- 2.2 Equality.- 2.3 Freedom.- 2.4 Justice.- 2.5 Democracy.- 2.6 Summary.- III Ethics.- 7. Types of Ethical Theory.- 1. Matters of Method.- 1.1 Religious and Secular Doctrines.- 1.2 Monism and Pluralism.- 1.3 Absolutism and Relativism.- 1.4 Objectivism and Subjectivism.- 1.5 Emotivism, Intuitionism and Cognitivism.- 1.6 Consequentialism and Deontologism.- 1.7 Individualism, Holism, Systemism.- 1.8 Conservatives and Reformists.- 1.9 Summary.- 2. Moral isms: Egoistic.- 2.1 Nihilism.- 2.2 Rational Egoism.- 2.3 Libertarianism.- 2.4 Contractualism.- 2.5 Negative Utilitarianism.- 2.6 Summary.- 3. Moral isms: Altruistic.- 3.1 Natural Law.- 3.2 Kant.- 3.3 Utilitarianism.- 3.4 Agathonism.- 3.5 Summary.- 8. Ethics Et Alia.- 1. Ethics and Knowledge.- 1.1 Ethics and Logic.- 1.2 Ethics and Epistemology.- 1.3 Ethics and Ontology.- 1.4 Ethics and Science.- 1.5 Ethics and Technology.- 1.6 Summary.- 2. Ethics and Action.- 2.1 Praxis and Ethics: Generalities.- 2.2 Bioethics.- 2.3 Nomoethics.- 2.4 Business Ethics.- 2.5 Political Ethics.- 2.6 Summary.- 9. Metaethics.- 1. Scientific and Philosophic Ethics.- 1.1 Ethics as Science and as Philosophy.- 1.2 Scientific and Axiological Basis.- 1.3 Constraints on Moral Norms.- 1.4 Norms and Normative Systems.- 1.5 Moral Reasoning.- 1.6 Summary.- 2. Ethics and Reality.- 2.1 The Is-Ought Gap.- 2.2 Moral Truth.- 2.3 Applying Ethics.- 2.4 Testing Ethics.- 2.5 Summary.- IV Action Theory.- 10. Action.- 1. Individual Action.- 1.1 Philosophical Underpinnings.- 1.2 Human Action.- 1.3 Goals, Means, and Plans.- 1.4 Work.- 1.5 Summary.- 2. Collective Action.- 2.1 Private and Public Interests.- 2.2 Social Policies and Plans.- 2.3 Cooperation and Competition.- 2.4 Competitive Cooperation.- 2.5 Management.- 2.6 Summary.- 11. Social Philosophy.- 1. Environmental.- 2. Biological.- 3. Economic.- 4. Political.- 5. Cultural.- 6. Summary.- 12 Values and Morals for a Viable Future.- 1. The Thirteen Horsemen of the Apocalypse.- 2. Old and New Values and Morals.- 3. A Survival and Development Morality.- 4. A Viable Social Order.- 5. Conclusion.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.