Moral Questions: by Rush Rhees

by R. Rhees, D. Phillips (Editor)

Overview

Rush Rhees questions the viability of moral theories and the general claims they make in ethics. He shows how one can both be concerned with knowing what one ought to do while recognising that one's answer is a personal one. These insights, arrived at in a distinctive style, characteristic of Rhees, are then applied to issues of life and death, human sexuality and our relations to animals. To recognise why philosophy cannot answer such questions for us is an affirmation, not a denial, of their importance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349411375
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/25/1999
Series:	Swansea Studies in Philosophy
Edition description:	1st ed. 1999
Pages:	261
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

RUSH RHEES taught at Swansea from 1940 to 1966. After retirement he became an Honorary Professor and Fellow of the College. He was Wittgenstein's literary executor.

D. Z. PHILLIPS became Rush Rhees' student in 1952 and was closely acquainted with him until his death in 1989. He is Director of the Rush Rhees Archive.

Table of Contents

Note in Editing Introduction PART ONE: PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS Moral Judgements and Moral Theory Morals and History Some Developments in Wittgenstein's View of Ethics Responsibility to Society 'Natural Law' and Reasons in Ethics On Knowing the Difference Between Right and Wrong 'What are Moral Statements Like?' PART TWO: THE PERSONAL IN ETHICS 'The Right Answer' 'Deciding What I Ought to Do' Virtue and Knowledge PART THREE: ISSUES OF LIFE AND DEATH Euthanasia Suicide Abortion PART FOUR: SEXUALITY OF ETHICS Sexuality The Tree of Nebuchadnezzar Chastity PART FIVE: PEOPLE AND ANIMALS Human Life and the Life of an Animal Learning, Animals and Psychological Experiments Humans and Animals: A Confused Christian Conception The Death of Dog PART SIX: ETHICS AND HUMAN LIVES Understanding What Men Do and Understanding the Lives Men Live Self Deception and Needs Self Deception and Mistakes Morals and Imitation Morals and Sincerity 'Doing Something About It' Index of Names Index of Subjects

Editorial Reviews

The fourth volume so far compiled from the archive at the University College of Swansea, Wales, where Rhees (1905-89) taught philosophy from 1940 to 1966. The 26 pieces focus on ethics and were written from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. They mostly consist of notes and letters and almost all are published here for the first time. Phillips, a student of Rhees' and director of the archive, has titled most of them and arranged them in sections on philosophical and personal ethics, issues of life and death, sexuality, people and animals, and human lives. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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