Moral Realities: An Essay in Philosophical Psychology

by Mark Platts

Overview

Scepticism about morality is as old as morality itself. Philosophers have attacked the 'singular institution' of morality, but have these sceptics correctly identified their target? In this book a descriptive metaphysics of morals is presented, revealing how philosophical critics have consistently misidentified the institution of morality. Mark Platts' influential first book Ways of Meaning argued within the context of the philosophy of language that a 'realist' account of moral thought was possible; Moral Realities defends the same possibility from the perspective of the philosophy of psychology. Platts engages the classical moral philosophies of Hume, Mandeville and Nietzsche, and tackles the powerful arguments of the contemporary moral relativists. His critique of the existing philosophical notions of desire and value enables him to clarify both what morality is and what it is not.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134930685
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/05/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	244
File size:	339 KB

About the Author

Mark Platts

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction Part One 1 Misconceptions of desire 2 The distinctions of desire 3 Values Part Two 4 Fact and action in Hume’s moral theory 5 The reach of morality 6 Morality’s critics

Editorial Reviews

In his first book, Ways of meaning (1979), Platts (research philosophy, Autonomous U. of Mexico) defended the notion of morality from a philosophy of language perspective. Here he enlists the principles of psychology in the same battle, analyzing the classical moral thought of Hume, Mandeville, and Nietzsche, and taking on the contemporary relativists with new taxonomies of desire and value. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'This is an impressive book: One cannot but admire its subtlety of argument, its scope and the complex interrelations between its different parts.' - Philsophical Quarterly

From the Publisher