Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment

by Allan Gibbard

Overview

This book examines some of the deepest questions in philosophy: What is involved in judging a belief, action, or feeling to be rational? What place does morality have in the kind of life it makes most sense to lead? How are we to understand claims to objectivity in moral judgments and in judgments of rationality? When we find ourselves in fundamental disagreement with whole communities, how can we understand our disagreement and cope with it?

To shed light on such issues, Allan Gibbard develops what he calls a “norm-expressivistic analysis” of rationality. He refines this analysis by drawing on evolutionary theory and experimental psychology, as well as on more traditional moral and political philosophy. What emerges is an interpretation of human normative life, with its quandaries and disputes over what is rational and irrational, morally right and morally wrong. Judgments of what it makes sense to do, to think, and to feel, Gibbard argues, are central to shaping the way we live our lives.

Gibbard does not hesitate to take up a wide variety of possible difficulties for his analysis. This sensitivity to the true complexity of the subject matter gives his treatment a special richness and depth. The fundamental importance of the issues he addresses and the freshness and suggestiveness of the account he puts forward, along with his illuminating treatment of aspects of sociobiology theory, will ensure this book a warm reception from philosophers, social scientists, and others with a serious interest in the nature of human thought and action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674953789
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1992
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Allan Gibbard is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

PART I: ANALYSES

1. The Puzzle

2. Nature and Judgment

3. Analyses Broached

4. Normative Psychology

5. Normative Logic

PART II: PSYCHE IN NATURE

6. Natural Representation

7. Moral Emotions

PART III: NORMATIVE OBJECTIVITY

8. Objectivity: First Steps

9. Normative Authority

10. Parochial Judgment

11. Rationale and Warrant

12. Pragmatic Support

13. Communities of Judgment

PART IV: MORAL INQUIRY

14. Moral Concern

15. Assessing Feeling

16. Structural Questions

17. Moral System

References

Index

What People are Saying About This

John McDowell

A very distinguished book; rich in insights and written with a terse elegance that makes for wonderful clarity and ease of reading.
— John McDowell, University of Pittsburgh

Editorial Reviews

A very distinguished book; rich in insights and written with a terse elegance that makes for wonderful clarity and ease of reading.

John McDowell

Every so often, though not often enough, a philosophical book is written that addresses a deep problem with profound insight, subtle argumentation and captivating style. Allan Gibbard’s Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment is such a book. It is an important book; it is a beautiful book.

Philosophical Quarterly - Donald Hubin

This is a wonderful book. It is hard to overpraise it. It is learned, wise, deep, and subtle, and for in my view it is substantially right. It is also a marvelously human and humane book, taking us into the heart of human emotion and feeling and exploring their shape with great sympathy and skill.

Ethics - Simon Blackburn

Every so often, though not often enough, a philosophical book is written that addresses a deep problem with profound insight, subtle argumentation and captivating style. Allan Gibbard's Wise Chioces, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment is such a book. It is an important book; it is a beautiful book.
— Donald Hubin

Philosophical Quarterly

This is a wonderful book. It is hard to overpraise it. It is learned, wise, deep, and subtle, and for in my view it is substantially right. It is also a marvelously human and humane book, taking us into the heart of human emotion and feeling and exploring their shape with great sympathy and skill.
— Simon Blackburn

Ethics