The Sources of Moral Agency: Essays in Moral Psychology and Freudian Theory / Edition 1

by John Deigh

Overview

The essays in this collection are concerned with the psychology of moral agency. They focus on moral feelings and moral motivation, and seek to understand the operations and origins of these phenomena as rooted in the natural desires and emotions of human beings. An important feature of the essays, and one that distinguishes the book from most philosophical work in moral psychology, is the attention to the writings of Freud. An underlying theme of the volume is a critique of influential, rationalist accounts of moral agency.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521556224
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/13/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

1. Morality and personal relations; 2. On the right to be punished: some doubts; 3. Love, guilt, and the sense of justice; 4. Remarks on some difficulties in Freud's theory of moral development; 5. Freud's later theory of civilisation: changes and implications; 6. Freud, naturalism, and modern moral philosophy; 7. Reason and motivation; 8. Empathy and universalisability; 9. Sidgwick on ethical judgment; 10. Reason and ethics in Hobbes's Leviathan; 11. Shame and self-esteem: a critique.

Editorial Reviews

"...these essays will repay the attention of philosophers and psychologists alike." Choice

From the Publisher