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On What Matters is a major work in moral philosophy. It is the long-awaited follow-up to Derek Parfit's 1984 book Reasons and Persons, one of the landmarks of twentieth-century philosophy. Parfit now presents a powerful new treatment of reasons, rationality, and normativity, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories - Kant's ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism - leading to his own ground-breaking synthetic conclusion.
Along the way he discusses a wide range of moral issues, such as the significance of consent, treating people as a means rather than an end, and free will and responsibility. On What Matters is already the most-discussed work in moral philosophy: its publication is likely to establish it as a modern classic which
everyone working on moral philosophy will have to read, and which many others will turn to for stimulation and illumination.
The second volume of Derek Parfit's magnum opus is in four parts. The first presents critiques of his work by four of the world's leading moral philosophers. The second contains his responses. The third and longest part is a self-contained monograph by Parfit on normativity. The final part comprises seven new essays by Parfit on Kant, reasons, irrationality, autonomy - and why the universe exists.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
PART FOUR: COMMENTARIES; SUSAN WOLF: HIKING THE RANGE; ALLEN WOOD: HUMANITY AS AN END IN ITSELF; BARBARA HERMAN: A MISMATCH OF METHODS; T. M. SCANLON: HOW I AM NOT A KANTIAN; PART FIVE: RESPONSES; ON HIKING THE RANGE; ON HUMANITY AS AN END IN ITSELF; ON A MISMATCH OF METHODS; HOW THE NUMBERS COUNT; SCANLONIAN CONTRACTUALISM; THE TRIPLE THEORY; PART SIX: NORMATIVITY; ANALYTICAL NATURALISM AND SUBJECTIVISM; NON-ANALYTICAL NATURALISM; THE TRIVIALITY OBJECTION; NATURALISM AND NIHILISM; NON-COGNITIVISM AND QUASI-REALISM; NORMATIVITY; NORMATIVE TRUTHS; METAPHYSICS; EPISTEMOLOGY; RATIONALISM; AGREEMENT; NIETZSCHE; WHAT MATTERS MOST; APPENDICES; WHY ANYTHING? WHY THIS?; THE FAIR WARNING VIEW; SOME OF KANT'S ARGUMENTS FOR HIS FORMULA OF UNIVERSAL LAW; KANT'S CLAIMS ABOUT THE GOOD; AUTONOMY AND CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES; KANT'S MOTIVATIONAL ARGUMENT; ON WHAT THERE IS; Notes to Volume Two; References; Bibliography; Index
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Derek Parfit is one of the leading philosophers of our time. He is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, Global Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at New York University, and a Fellow of the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of Reasons and Persons (OUP, 1984), one of the most influential books in philosophy of the last several decades.
Zusammenfassung
This is the second volume of a major new work in moral philosophy. It starts with critiques of Derek Parfit's work by four eminent moral philosophers, and his responses. The largest part of the volume is a self-contained monograph on normativity. The final part comprises seven new essays on Kant, reasons, and why the universe exists.
Zusatztext
Parfit's intricate and beautifully lucid book is undoubtedly the work of a philosophical genius.
Bericht
Review from previous edition an epochal work ... Parfit's intellectual personality radiates throughout On What Matters, which as a whole presents a gripping and illuminating picture of a single, comprehensive view of the projects of both normative and metaethical inquiry. Mark Schroeder, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
