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This book examines the public battle sparked by the promulgation in 1788 of Prussia's Edict on Religion. Historians have seen in this moment nothing less than the end of the Enlightenment in Prussia. This book begs to differ and argues that social control had a long "enlightened" pedigree. Using both archival and published documents this book reveals deeply the entire Prussian elite was invested in social control of the masses, especially in the public sphere. What emerges is a picture of the Enlightenment in Prussia as a conservative enterprise that was limited by not merely the state but also the social anxieties of the Prussian elite.
An important collection of essays offering a full assessment of Nietzsche's contribution to philosophy, first published in 2000.
"The book is to show that the aim of thinking about what to do, of practical reason, is to find, not what we ought to do, but what is a good thing to do for us under the circumstances. So it argues, first, that neither under prudence nor under morality there are things we ought to do. There is no warrant for the idea of our being required, by natural law perhaps or by our rationality, to do either what helps us attain our ends or what is right for moral reasons. While common moral understanding is committed to there being things we ought to do and to our being guilty and deserving blame if we fail to do them, we can lay aside these notions without loss, indeed with benefit. Second, it explains what it is for something to be good for somebody to do under the circumstances and argues for understanding practical reason in these terms. What is good for somebody to do we find by experience: from what we go through we learn what helps and what hinders and figure out on this basis both what is prudentially useful and what is morally right to do - although in the end this difference itself gives way, and morality turns out to be a part of prudence"--
Written at the height of the philosopher's intellectual powers, Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals has become one of the key texts of recent Western philosophy. Its essayistic style affords a unique opportunity to observe many of Nietzsche's persisting concerns coming together in an illuminating constellation. A profound influence on psychoanalysis, antihistoricism, and poststructuralism and an abiding challenge to ethical theory, Nietzsche's book addresses many of the major philosophical problems and possibilities of modernity. In this unique collection focusing on the Genealogy, twenty-five notable philosophers offer diverse discussions of the book's central themes and concep...
In this collection a distinguished roster of philosophers analyse the diverse forms of practical conflict.
What exactly are the reasons we do things, and how are they related to the resulting actions? Bittner explores this question and proposes an answer: a reason is a response to that state of affairs. Elegantly written, this work is a substantial contribution to the fields of rationality, ethics, and action theory.
Beyond Duty presents a new collection of essays on Kantian moral theory and practical ethics from a distinguished philosopher known for making Kantian ethics accessible and relevant to contemporary problems. With a new emphasis on ideals beyond the strictest requirements of moral duty, Thomas E. Hill, Jr. expands the core aspects of Kantian ethics and offers a broader perspective on familiar moral problems. Some essays explain Kantian concepts, while others review work of leading contemporary philosophers or raise challenging ethical questions for more general audiences. Crucially, Hill develops an ethical ideal of appreciation of people and their lives. Distinguished from both respect and b...
The book illustrates the concept of action in three different contexts - the justification of actions, people's life history, and pragmatism. The special feature of this book is that a comprehensive view of this kind marks a departure from the atomistic approach of action theory, which in itself raises a number of questions. If actions are not justified by mental states, how can persons then act for reasons? How can persons' actions over time be described, and what is the connection with the question of personal identity? If there is to be a unified understanding of the person, does the practical have to take precedence over the theoretical, and what does this mean for epistemology, for example? The ten contributors to this volume engage in an instructive manner with these and similar questions in the three sections of the book.
Henry E. Allison presents a comprehensive commentary on Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785). Allison pays special attention to the structure of the work and its historical and intellectual context. He argues that, despite its relative brevity, the Groundwork is the single most important work in modern moral philosophy.
"Expanded from a series of lectures Pippin delivered at the Collège de France, Nietzsche, Psychology, and First Philosophy offers a brilliant, novel, and accessible reading of this seminal thinker"--Jacket.