Ethics Emotion And The Unity Of The Self Routledge Revivals

This Routledge Revival reissues Oliver Letwin’s philosophical treatise: Ethics, Emotion and the Unity of the Self, first published in 1987, which concerns the applicability of the artistic classifications of romanticism and classicism to philosophical doctrine. Dr Letwin examines three particular theses associated with philosophical romanticism: that there is within us a high self and a low self; that there is a moral self in inevitable conflict with an amoral self; and that there is a rational self disjoined from and in tension with a passionate self. He argues that these notions of philosophical romanticism are, in fact, radically false, and instead takes the view that man can be a unified being of the sort described by philosophical classicists. But man has to work to achieve this status. The intrinsic unity of the human personality is not a guarantee of a coherent life, but a challenge to be met.

The relationship of emotions, ethics, and authenticity constitutes a nexus of philosophical and psychological problems with wide interdisciplinary relevance. What is the proper role of emotions in moral behavior and theory; are emotions reliable guides to our authentic personal values; and finally; what does it mean to be authentic in one's emotions, assuming that there is such thing as emotional authenticity in the first place? The various contributions of this book seek to answer these vexing but rarely discussed questions, offering a broad intellectual tour that ranges from philosophy to psychology, sociology, and gender studies.

In this work, originally published in 1986, Victor Seidler explores the different notions of respect, equality and dependency in Kant’s moral writings. He illuminates central tensions and contradictions not only within Kant’s moral philosophy, but within the thinking and feeling about human dignity and social inequality which we take very much for granted within a liberal moral culture. In challenging our assumption of the autonomy of morality, Seidler also questions our understanding of what it means for someone to live as a person in his or her own right. The autonomy of individuals cannot be assumed but has to be reasserted against relationships of subordination. This involves a break with a rationalist morality, so that respect for others involves respect for emotions, feelings, desires and needs, and establishes a fuller autonomy as a basis for freedom and justice.

In this work, originally published in 1986, Victor Seidler explores the different notions of respect, equality and dependency in Kant’s moral writings. He illuminates central tensions and contradictions not only within Kant’s moral philosophy, but within the thinking and feeling about human dignity and social inequality which we take very much for granted within a liberal moral culture. In challenging our assumption of the autonomy of morality, Seidler also questions our understanding of what it means for someone to live as a person in his or her own right. The autonomy of individuals cannot be assumed but has to be reasserted against relationships of subordination. This involves a break with a rationalist morality, so that respect for others involves respect for emotions, feelings, desires and needs, and establishes a fuller autonomy as a basis for freedom and justice.

First published in 1971, the five essays in this book were written by young philosophers at Cambridge at that time. They focus on two major questions of ethical theory: ‘What is it to judge morally?’ and ‘What makes a reason a moral reason?’. The book explores the relation of moral judgements to attitudes, emotions and beliefs as well as the notions of expression, agency, and moral responsibility.

"Margolis illuminates our path through a cluttered conceptual territory. I think this is a straining, important contribution to our understanding of emotion and the self". -- Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work"Margolis's grasp of the complexities of selfhood in contemporary life is a key contribution of her work. She takes us on a fascinating and readable excursion in social theory". -- John P. Hewitt, author of Dilemmas of the American SelfWays of viewing the self change when social environments change, argues Diane Rothbard Margolis in this powerful work of social theory. She analyzes six views of the self found in contemporary Western cultures and shows how each plays a critical role in society and in our everyday lives. Each image of the self is a moral construct expressing what is forbidden, allowed, and expected. Each was created at a historical moment that demanded a new assessment of fight and wrong. No moral orientation is, in absolute terms, better or worse than any other, Margolis contends; each continues to exist because it permits or demands some form of action required by contemporary society.Although the idea of the self as an individualistic "exchanger" -- rational, self-interested, competitive -- may dominate current discourse, especially in market economies, Margolis describes other constructs: the obligated self, the cosmic self, the reciprocating self, the called person, and the civic self. She delineates the moral ideas from which these images arise and develops a theory of emotions to explain how we live by several moral orientations simultaneously. Her perspective on moral orientations andemotions illuminates such contemporary dilemmas as why women and men may play the same social role quite differently, why women encounter the glass ceiling, and why nationalism persists despite the growth of world markets.

First Published in 1951, this outline work on the theory of knowledge and metaphysics is intended both for university students who have recently started on the subject and for any who, without having the advantage of studying it at university, wish by private reading to acquire a general idea of its nature. The book deals with all the main questions arising within the field in so far as they can be stated and discussed profitably and simply. The topics discussed include the place of reason in knowledge and life, the possibility of knowledge beyond sense-experience, the theory of perception, the relation of body and mind, alleged philosophical implications of recent scientific doctrines, the problem of evil and the existence of God.

G. A. Gaskell’s Dictionary of the Sacred Language of All Scriptures and Myths, first published in 1923, examines several different aspects of religion, including examples from Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology to modern-day Christianity, providing explanations of gods, events, and symbols in alphabetical order. This is a perfect reference book for students of theology or the history of religion.

First published in 1983, this book explores a number of avenues of critical thinking about Joseph Conrad, showing him as an author deeply concerned with humankind’s ethical motivation and its relationship with the ideas of evolution current in his day. Allan Hunter establishes Conrad’s detailed knowledge of the leading evolutionary arguments of the period and the main questions posed: were ethics God-given or were morals merely an evolved attribute? His novels are shown as debates with, and extensions of, the theories of Huxley, Darwin, Carlyle, Spencer, Lombroso and others on the nature of humanity and altruism.