The Birth of Ethics: Reconstructing the Role and Nature of Morality by Philip Pe

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Imagine a human society, perhaps in pre-history, in which people were generally of a psychological kind with us, had the use of natural language to communicate with one another, but did not have any properly moral concepts in which to exhort one another to meet certain standards and to lodge related claims and complaints. According to The Birth of Ethics, the members of that society would have faced a set of pressures, and made a series of adjustments inresponse, sufficient to put them within reach of ethical concepts. Without any planning, they would have more or less inevitably evolved a way of using such concepts to articulate desirable patterns of behaviorand to hold themselves and one another responsible to those standards. Sooner or later, they would have entered ethical space. While this central claim is developed as a thesis in conjectural history or genealogy, the aim of the exercise is philosophical. Assuming that it explains the emergence of concepts and practices that are more or less equivalent to ours, the story offers us an account of the nature and role of morality. It directs us to the function that ethicsplays in human life and alerts us to the character in virtue of which it can serve that function. The emerging view of morality has implications for the standard range of questions in meta-ethics and moralpsychology, and enables us to understand why there are divisions in normative ethics like that between consequentialist and Kantian approaches.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Author Biography

Philip Pettit is Laurence Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University. He is also Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University.Kinch Hoekstra is Chancellor's Professor of Political Science and Law at University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction: The View from Erewhon Kinch HoekstraIntroduction: The Guiding IdeasChapter 1. Reconstructing MoralityChapter 2. Ground ZeroChapter 3. Committing to OthersChapter 4. Committing with OthersChapter 5. Discovering DesirabilityChapter 6. Discovering ResponsibilityChapter 7. Morality ReconstructedConclusion: The Claims in SummaryMichael Tomasello and Philip Pettit: An Exchange Michael Tomasello & Philip PettitCommentary on Philip Pettit's The Birth of Ethics Michael TomaselloReply to Michael Tomasello's Commentary Philip PettitReferencesIndex

Review

The Birth of Ethics is a magesterial contribution to the study of language and morality. * Alex Miller, International Journal of Philosophical Studies *The Bith of Ethics is a remarkably ambitious and innovative work by one of Australia's most eminent philosophers...: The ultimate success of a book that seeks to change the methods of moral philosophy can only be judged many years after publication. The Birth of Ethics aims to clear a tenable path that leads away from moral scepticism, and for that reason, I believe, it deserves attention. * David Neil, Australian Book Review *Pettit contends that morality is essential for human self-realization as persons. In this regard, his own speculation about the genealogy of morals is markedly different from a long line of philosophical speculations about the origin or morals traceable to Plato and routed through standard relativistic and conventionalist theories ... Recommended. * C. S. Johnson, CHOICE *A very interesting, stimulating and thought-provoking account of the possible origins of morality. * Harry Witzthum, Metapsychology *The book is conceptually rich. Any moral philosopher will find much to ponder here ... Pettit is here trying out a novel, multifaceted, and systematic approach to ethics, from which moral philosophers, whether or not they are ultimately persuaded, will have much to learn. * David Phillips, Notre Dame Philosophical Review *

Promotional

The Birth of Ethics offers an account of how morality might have emerged, without any planning, in a society with language but without any properly ethical concepts or practices. The conjectural history that it documents serves a philosophical purpose, for it directs us the role that morality plays in human life and the nature of morality that enables it to play that role.

Long Description

Imagine a human society, perhaps in pre-history, in which people were generally of a psychological kind with us, had the use of natural language to communicate with one another, but did not have any properly moral concepts in which to exhort one another to meet certain standards and to lodge related claims and complaints. According to The Birth of Ethics, the members of that society would have faced a set of pressures, and made a series of adjustments inresponse, sufficient to put them within reach of ethical concepts. Without any planning, they would have more or less inevitably evolved a way of using such concepts to articulate desirable patterns of behavior and to hold themselves and one another responsible to those standards. Sooner or later, they wouldhave entered ethical space. While this central claim is developed as a thesis in conjectural history or genealogy, the aim of the exercise is philosophical. Assuming that it explains the emergence of concepts and practices that are more or less equivalent to ours, the story offers us an account of the nature and role of morality. It directs us to the function that ethics plays in human life and alerts us to the character in virtue of which it can serve that function. The emerging view of morality has implications for thestandard range of questions in meta-ethics and moral psychology, and enables us to understand why there are divisions in normative ethics like that between consequentialist and Kantian approaches.

Review Text

"The Birth of Ethics is a magesterial contribution to the study of language and morality." --Alex Miller, International Journal of Philosophical Studies"The Bith of Ethics is a remarkably ambitious and innovative work by one of Australia's most eminent philosophers...: The ultimate success of a book that seeks to change the methods of moral philosophy can only be judged many years after publication. The Birth of Ethics aims to clear a tenable path that leads away from moral scepticism, and for that reason, I believe, it deserves attention." --David Neil, Australian Book Review"Pettit contends that morality is essential for human self-realization as persons. In this regard, his own speculation about the genealogy of morals is markedly different from a long line of philosophical speculations about the origin or morals traceable to Plato and routed through standard relativistic and conventionalist theories ... Recommended." --C. S. Johnson, CHOICE"A very interesting, stimulating and thought-provoking account of the possible origins of morality." --Harry Witzthum, Metapsychology"The book is conceptually rich. Any moral philosopher will find much to ponder here ... Pettit is here trying out a novel, multifaceted, and systematic approach to ethics, from which moral philosophers, whether or not they are ultimately persuaded, will have much to learn." --David Phillips, Notre Dame Philosophical Review

Review Quote

"The Birth of Ethics is a magesterial contribution to the study of language and morality."--Alex Miller, International Journal of Philosophical Studies

Feature

Selling point: Develops a picture of the nature and role of ethics on a novel basis, seeking to explain how moral concepts and practices might have emergedSelling point: Illuminates philosophical arguments about the metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, and semantics of moralitySelling point: Includes an engaging exhange between author, Pettit, and fellow philosopher, Tomasello, on the role of language in the development of cooperative norms and the nature of ethics

New Feature

Editor's Introduction: The View from Erewhon Kinch Hoekstra Introduction: The Guiding Ideas Chapter 1. Reconstructing Morality Chapter 2. Ground Zero Chapter 3. Committing to Others Chapter 4. Committing with Others Chapter 5. Discovering Desirability Chapter 6. Discovering Responsibility Chapter 7. Morality Reconstructed Conclusion: The Claims in Summary Michael Tomasello and Philip Pettit: An Exchange Michael Tomasello & Philip Pettit Commentary on Philip Pettit's The Birth of Ethics Michael Tomasello Reply to Michael Tomasello's Commentary Philip Pettit References Index

Details ISBN0197567444 Author Philip Pettit Short Title The Birth of Ethics Pages 400 Series The Berkeley Tanner Lectures Language English ISBN-10 0197567444 ISBN-13 9780197567449 Format Paperback Subtitle Reconstructing the Role and Nature of Morality DEWEY 170.9 Publisher Oxford University Press Inc Year 2021 Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Publication Date 2021-04-21 UK Release Date 2021-04-21 NZ Release Date 2021-04-21 US Release Date 2021-04-21 Affiliation The Netherlands Institute of Ecology, The Netherlands Position Lecturer Illustrator Annie MacKinnon Birth 1955 Death 1851 Qualifications J.D. Alternative 9780190904913 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2021-05-04 We've got this

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