The Worth of Persons

The Foundation of Ethics

James Franklin

• Verlag: Encounter Books
• Jahr: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781641772792
• Thema: Philosophy
• Thema: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

The death of a person is a tragedy while the explosion of a lifeless galaxy is a mere firework. The moral difference is grounded in the nature of humans: humans have intrinsic worth, a worth that makes their fate really matter. This is the worth that the Australian philosopher James Franklin proposes as the foundation of ethics. In The Worth of Persons he explains that ethics in the usual sense of right and wrong actions, rights and virtues, and how to live a good life, is founded on something more basic that is not itself about actions, namely the worth of persons. Human moral worth arises from certain properties that distinguish humans from the rest of creation (though some animals share a lesser degree of those properties): rationality, consciousness, the ability to act for reasons, emotional structure and love, individuality. This complex package makes humans the "piece of work" of which Hamlet says "How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty."In clear prose and deeply-informed philosophical argument, The Worth of Persons establishes a foundation for ethics in the equal worth of persons, which makes ethics absolutely objective and immune to relativist attacks because it is based on the metaphysical truth about humans. The Worth of Persons will appeal to all those who feel that endless debate about ethical dilemmas, rules, and principles fails to connect with what is really important ethically, that is, what makes humans matter.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Absolute Ethics and the Worth of Persons
• Chapter Two: Rights, Duties, Virtues, Values, Consequences, Dilemmas
• Chapter Three: Five False Starts and One True One
• Chapter Four: The Search for a Foundation of the Worth of Persons
• Chapter Five: The Supervenience of Worth on Natural Properties
• Chapter Six: The Properties of Humans Which Ground Their Worth
• Chapter Seven: Worth of the Non-human
• Chapter Eight: The Source of Obligation
• Chapter Nine: How Do We Know?
• Epilogue: What Kind of Universe?
• Select Bibliography
• Acknowledgment
• Notes
• Index