moral animals ideals and constraints in moral theory sep 2004

[...]... aptitude for learning new routines and seem to enjoy the constrained behaviour involved in dancing, singing, and drawing, as well as in talking They grow up into such norm-governed activities as proving theorems, making 6 Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 27 ff advantage-reducing imperatives 7 artistic representations, and creating and participating in elaborate... persistence and flourishing of communities If wealthy businesspersons in Canada, unlike Italian aristocrats of a former era, eschew the wearing of ruby pendants, this is not because the practice is biologically dysfunctional or intrinsically disruptive The liking for norms and the pleasure taken in moulding thinking and acting so that it operates within constraints is evident in the great human interest in. .. nutritionists, and government agencies on how to flourish as a human being And to be told that morality is concerned with advantage-reducing imperatives 9 minimizing suffering is to be misinformed The injunction against using your hairdryer in the bathtub is not a moral rule, and the acceptance of a moral rule may even imply that more rather than less pain is morally meet or fitting; suicide and indifference... societies founded on two principles: the agricultural, building, and craft labour of large numbers of slaves of both sexes, and the domestic labour of nearly all women The increase in circulating wealth and in the organization of productive power has a seemingly intrinsic tendency to increase inequality between classes and nations, and between men and women It is naive to maintain that observed high variance... Advantage-Reducing Imperatives The theory of morals divides into the descriptive theory of moral phenomena and moral judgement and the prescriptive theory of what we ought, morally, to do Before treating of moral judgements in the abstract and addressing particular questions of right and wrong, it will be useful to give some attention to moral phenomena, descriptively considered The concept of morality is... for their offspring for many years, and use their hands for constructive purposes including building, writing, drawing, and calculating Their fondness for normative rules—for doing things in the right way, often in exactly the right way—is manifest in all their activities.5 Whether we are aware of them and can articulate them or not, our behaviour and our productions are constrained by internalized canons... Morality and Hypermorality 2 Paraworlds and Confirmation 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Moral Belief-Sets and Theory M Authored and Unauthored Norms The Form of a Moral Theory Moral Theories and Paraworlds How Remote are Paraworlds from the Real World? Relativism 3 Limits on Theory I: Costs to Agents 3.1 Exigency in Moral Theory 3.2 The First-Person Standpoint 3.3 The Argument from Heavy Costs 4 Limits on Theory. .. resting places They also retaliate against such interference and attack strangers Both males and females—but principally females—look after the welfare of infants; there is also occasional infanticide by males, as well as loss of infants through bad mothering or carelessness The animals take an interest in the condition of their own and each other’s skin and hair They take turns grooming each other and. .. verbalizations describing, sincerely or insincerely, their actions and intentions, this would not indicate that they had placed themselves under the particular restraints of morality Nor is its absence explained by the animals inability to ascribe mental states to others Missing from their orientation towards the social world is an interest in regulation as such There is a certain kind of thought about... its aggressive and proprietary impulses—is a necessary underpinning for morality as we understand it However sophisticated or complicated by conditions and exceptions our moral beliefs are, whatever rationale in terms of long-term happiness and general flourishing we provide for them, and however great the satisfactions of morally appropriate behaviour may be, moral emotions and practices involve some . w0 h1" alt="" Moral Animals Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory In Moral Animals Catherine Wilson develops a theory of morality based on two fundamental premises: first that moral progress. will spark fresh debates within philosophy and across the social sciences. This page intentionally left blank Moral Animals Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory CATHERINE WILSON CLARENDON PRESS. evolution of moral ideals involving restraint and sacrifice; second that human beings are outfitted by nature with selfish motivations, intentions, and ambitions that place constraints on what morality can