A SHORT HISTORY OF ETHICS

Mind, 2021

Review of Philip Pettit's The Birth of Ethics

Ethics, 2016

History of European Ideas, 2010

Emory University, 2020

Course Description: No concept is a-historical. In this course, we will investigate the history of a series of ethical concepts: happiness, the good life, duty, virtue, and moral character. The main thread of our course, however, will be the history of responsibility. We will investigate, in particular, how the responsible subject changes in philosophical discourse across the centuries. Starting with a subject who is responsible only insofar as she acts freely, knowingly, and voluntarily, we will see that philosophers then attribute responsibility to the subject who is passive, vulnerable, and dependent on others. There is a reversal of responsibility from the ego to the other, from activity to passivity, from freedom to subjection. What should we make of these changes? What makes us responsible for our actions? Crucially, to whom are we responsible--to ourselves, others, the entire earth?

Bloomsbury Academic, 2012

From Plato to MacIntyre, my edited collection surveys the history of Western moral philosophy by guiding students new to the subject through the work and ideas of the field's most important figures. With entries written by leading contemporary scholars, the book covers such thinkers as: Plato [by myself]; Aristotle; Thomas Aquinas; David Hume; Immanuel Kant; J.S. Mill ; Friedrich Nietzsche; The book explores the contributions of each thinker individually, while also building a picture of how ethical thought has developed through their interactions. The book includes guides to the latest further reading on each thinker.

Verbum Et Ecclesia, 2023

We are indeed, as suggested by the organisers of this project and the conference by which it was precipitated, dealing with an 'unsettling anomaly' in our efforts to understand the nature of, and come to grips with, the phenomenon of morality, the importance of which is widely accepted in our world and times. In my understanding, 'morality' -differently from the notion of 'ethics' -refers to the phenomenon that human beings universally submit their behaviour to the judgement of others, or, better stated, to the 'demands of obligation', 1 which simply means that humans universally acknowledge that the question about the moral status, that is, the wrongness or rightness of human action, is a legitimate question. 'Ethics', in contradistinction to 'morality', refers to the more intellectual enterprise of trying to identify, analyse, understand and critically develop the actual action guides ('theories') that govern the moral status of human behaviour, as well as applying those action guides to concrete moral challenges or dilemmas. In short, morality is a behavioural phenomenon that can be observed and/or discerned in society in the sense that the normative dimension (that of which we declare that it 'ought' to be or to happen) is apparent, recognisable and applicable. Ethics, on the other hand, is a kind of philosophy, that is, an exercise in reflection about concepts and ideas. Both morality and ethics are concerned with the normative nature and impact of some concepts, ideas and practices in human existence. But I am arguing that, in the case of 'morality', we are referring to a key aspect of our common behaviour that, in a certain sense, can be observed or experienced. I 'see' morality every time I observe a person helping another in need. I do not 'see and/or observe' ethics in that sense, unless I am engaged in ethical argumentation and its outcome (i.e. the publications and/or texts and/or lectures that emerge from ethical deliberation). 1.The Afrikaans language says it better: 'Mense onderwerp hul gedrag universeel aan 'n behorenseis'. This article investigates the nature of an 'Ethics of Responsibility' (ER) as well as its significance for the broader research project dealt with, namely 'Morality in History'. The article starts off with a conceptual analysis of the notions of 'morality' and 'ethics', followed by an exposition of Alasdair MacIntyre's formulation of the 'anomaly' of current-day moral theory. This leads to a comprehensive analysis of MacIntyre's argument as to why the Enlightenment project was, according to him, doomed to failure and a return to Aristotle is essentially called for. Consequently, the approach known as the ER is introduced, drawing on the work of Hans Jonas, Emmanuel Levinas, Richard Niehbur, Richard Bernstein, William Schweiker and Aristotle. The following concepts are analysed and integrated into the framework of the ER, namely accountability (Schwecker), reciprocity (Levinas), fallibility (Van Niekerk), futurity (Jonas), the dialectic between normativity and applications (Bernstein) and phronesis (Aristotle). The article argues that the theoretical model of an 'ethics of responsibility' contributes significantly to reflection on the 'origins of morality'. The 'anomaly' of current-day moral theory is analysed This is followed by a comprehensive exposition of the ER. This model of ethical conceptualisation bestows even more clarity on the intra-and interdisciplinary implications of the article, as a model is developed, drawing on the work of Jonas, Levinas, Schweiker and others, that utilises the insights of Aristotle and thereby transcends the approaches to moral reasoning of Modernity.

With fifty-four chapters charting the development of moral philosophy in the Western world, this volume examines the key thinkers and texts and their influence on the history of moral thought from the pre-Socratics to the present day. Topics including Epicureanism, humanism, Jewish and Arabic thought, perfectionism, pragmatism, idealism and intuitionism are all explored, as are figures including Aristotle, Boethius, Spinoza, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Mill, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Rawls, as well as numerous key ideas and schools of thought. Chapters are written by leading experts in the field, drawing on the latest research to offer rigorous analysis of the canonical figures and movements of this branch of philosophy. The volume provides a comprehensive yet philosophically advanced resource for students and teachers alike as they approach, and refine their understanding of, the central issues in moral thought. Read more at http://www.cambridge.org/it/academic/subjects/philosophy/history-philosophy/cambridge-history-moral-philosophy#SKuHy5AdTDKYDw3K.99