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Experiments in Ethics
Kwame Anthony Appiah
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Description for Experiments in Ethics
Paperback. Some moral theorists hold that the realm of morality must be autonomous of the sciences; others maintain that science undermines the authority of moral reasons. This book elaborates a vision of naturalism that resists both temptations. It also traces an intellectual genealogy of the burgeoning discipline of 'experimental philosophy'. Series: Mary Flexner Lecture Series of Bryn Mawr College. Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: HPQ. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly. Dimension: 199 x 129 x 20. Weight in Grams: 304.
In the past few decades, scientists of human nature-including experimental and cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, evolutionary theorists, and behavioral economists-have explored the way we arrive at moral judgments. They have called into question commonplaces about character and offered troubling explanations for various moral intuitions. Research like this may help explain what, in fact, we do and feel. But can it tell us what we ought to do or feel? In Experiments in Ethics, the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah explores how the new empirical moral psychology relates to the age-old project of philosophical ethics. Some moral theorists hold that ... Read morethe realm of morality must be autonomous of the sciences; others maintain that science undermines the authority of moral reasons. Appiah elaborates a vision of naturalism that resists both temptations. He traces an intellectual genealogy of the burgeoning discipline of experimental philosophy, provides a balanced, lucid account of the work being done in this controversial and increasingly influential field, and offers a fresh way of thinking about ethics in the classical tradition. Appiah urges that the relation between empirical research and morality, now so often antagonistic, should be seen in terms of dialogue, not contest. And he shows how experimental philosophy, far from being something new, is actually as old as philosophy itself. Beyond illuminating debates about the connection between psychology and ethics, intuition and theory, his book helps us to rethink the very nature of the philosophical enterprise. Show Less
Product Details
Publisher
Harvard University Press United States
Series
Mary Flexner Lecture Series of Bryn Mawr College
Place of Publication
Cambridge, Mass, United States
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
About Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah is Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University.
Reviews for Experiments in Ethics
Brilliant...I wish every philosopher wrote like Appiah. Experiments in Ethics is clear and accessible (and often very funny), and Appiah is generous when it comes to discussing the work of those he disagrees with. But this book has teeth, particularly when Appiah looks hard at the emphasis on moral dilemmas.
Paul Bloom New York Times Book Review 20080203 The ... Read moremain theme of [Appiah's] beautifully written book...is that ethicists should take account of empirical data about people's moral intuitions. Indeed, he takes that to be the mainstream current of the history of philosophy from Aristotle onwards, regretting the recent hiving off of the discipline from empirical investigation. Appiah packs a chewy heft of scholarly nuance away in the footnotes, and the text sparkles with jokes.
Steven Poole The Guardian 20080202 Concisely written and clearly argued...Humans have a tendency to pass the moral buck by blaming ethical failings on everything from supernatural forces to genetics. Appiah's proposals return the wellspring of human ethics to its proper place: human beings themselves...This is a stimulating and highly enjoyable book. With Appiah as our guide, readers can look forward to a fascinating journey toward the rediscovery of the ancient goal of a life of decency and virtue.
Lorenzo DiTommaso Montreal Gazette 20080202 Concise yet erudite and engagingly written...Because he sees the quest for scientific knowledge as very much part of the philosophical tradition, Mr. Appiah warns not only against baseless fears of the damage that experiments in ethics will do to ethics, but also against exaggerated hopes that the rediscovery of such an approach will answer all our puzzles about ethics.
Peter Singer New York Sun 20080116 What can experimentation in the human and natural sciences contribute to moral philosophy? Appiah's answer in this concise and balanced book is effectively something but not everything. Reconnecting the empirical with moral theory may, he argues, have productive consequences for both areas of thought. London Review of Books 20080221 In writing this inspiring book, Appiah has done a good thing.
Sacha Molitorisz Sydney Morning Herald 20080222 Sensible, informed and highly readable...Illuminating and important. The book is a model for how to do empirically informed moral philosophy.
Anthony Skelton Globe and Mail 20080301 Experiments in Ethics is erudite, concise and engagingly written. Appiah assesses that experimental science is relevant to the enterprise of normative ethics, and that the relation between the two, although complex, need not be antagonistic.
Nick Bostrom Nature 20080529 Appiah has produced an elegant and well-written volume at the intersection of psychology and moral philosophy. Appiah presents a reasonable case that philosophy traditionally has been informed by scientific inquiry, and should continue to welcome it; but at the same time he is clear that the questions of moral philosophy are not themselves scientific questions.
S. Satris Choice 20080801 This engaging book surveys influential recent attempts to bring empirical studies to bear specifically on moral philosophy, in a style that is accessible to non-specialists yet philosophically nuanced. Professor Appiah is sympathetic to the idea that moral philosophy has a good deal to learn from experimental work, but skeptical of the suggestion that this approach constitutes a radical departure from the philosophical tradition. He begins with a fascinating and erudite characterization of philosophy as a discipline that only calved off from psychology around the beginning of the twentieth century. Until then, experimental works and empirical investigation ( natural philosophy ) were interwoven with metaphysical theorizing and deductive argumentation, and psychology was only just becoming a distinct academic discipline in its own right. Trying to distinguish metaphysical from psychological elements in the work of such canonical figures of European philosophy as Plato and Aristotle, Rene Descartes, John Locke, David Hume and J. S. Mill, Appiah claims, is like trying to peel a raspberry.
Justin D'Arms Times Literary Supplement 20090306 One of our most imaginative writers on topics like culture, values, and individual identity...[Appiah] is a philosopher but one not bound by any disciplinary straitjacket; he succeeds in what he does by inviting his readers to stand back with him from the preoccupations of any particular style of theorizing...The lightness of his style...together with his determination to make analytic moral philosophy the topic rather than the method of his study, has given us a wry and engaging account of the challenge that psychology poses to ethics.
Jeremy Waldron New York Review of Books 20091008 Show Less
