In this brief book one of the most distinguished living American philosophers takes up the question of whether ethical judgments can properly be considered objective--a question that has vexed philosophers over the past century. Looking at the efforts of philosophers from the Enlightenment through the twentieth century, Putnam traces the ways in which ethical problems arise in a historical context. Hilary Putnam's central concern is ontology--indeed, the very idea of ontology as the division of philosophy concerned with what (ultimately) exists. Reviewing what he deems the disastrous consequences of ontology's influence on analytic philosophy--in particular, the contortions it imposes upon debates about the objective of ethical judgments--Putnam proposes abandoning the very idea of ontology. He argues persuasively that the attempt to provide an ontological explanation of the objectivity of either mathematics or ethics is, in fact, an attempt to provide justifications that are extraneous to mathematics and ethics--and is thus deeply misguided.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Harvard University Press
ISBN-13
9780674018518
eBay Product ID (ePID)
89633222
Product Key Features
Book Title
Ethics without Ontology
Author
Hilary Putnam
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Popular Philosophy
Publication Year
2005
Number of Pages
176 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
203mm
Item Width
127mm
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Hilary Putnam
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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