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1. The Nature of Morality: An Introduction to Ethics by Gilbert Harman | |
Paperback: 192
Pages
(1977-01-06)
list price: US$39.95 -- used & new: US$23.79 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0195021436 Average Customer Review: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description Customer Reviews (2)
Good Book on Moral Philosophy
Nice Introduction to Meta-Ethics, and to Harman's Relativism This isn't a textbook on ethics; it's an original work of philosophy written in such a way that it is accessible to those without a substantial philosophical background.Still, Harman does a pretty good job of introducing readers to many of the issues in meta-ethics while developing his own naturalistic account of morality, an account that ends up being a form of moral relativism.Harman does discuss positions other than those he favors, but they are discussed only insofar as they have some role to play in the progress in his own argument.And he does refer to historically important thinkers (e.g., Hume, Kant, Moore, and Hare), primarily using their work as a foil to his own or as a source of insights he can use in formulating his own theory. So this isn't a book for someone looking for comprehensive coverage of the positions in meta-ethics or an introduction to historical work on this subject.(If you're looking for a textbook on meta-ethics, you might try Stephen Darwall's Philosophical Ethics or Alexander Miller's recent An Introduction to Contemporary Meta-Ethics.Both of those works present and criticize most of the important positions in contemporary meta-ethics.) The book begins with a seminal, albeit frustrating, argument that Harman thinks poses a problem for the objectivity of ethics.Harman argues that a fundamental problem with putative moral facts, whose existence would be necessary for morality to be objective, is that it appears they cannot be tested against observation.He then presents an account of the nature of observation according to which this problem boils down to the fact that it appears moral facts cannot be fit into the explanatory framework provided by our scientific conception of the world.In particular, it seems we cannot understand how moral facts could causally interact with anything in the world in such a way that could ultimately cause our having experiences of them.Consequently, we cannot have observational evidence for or against claims about putative moral facts. The rest of the book can be understood as Harman's response to the worry presented in this chapter.First, Harman considers whether this argument ought to lead us directly to moral nihilism, the doctrine that there are no moral facts.He thinks not.In chapters 2-4 he scrutinizes some possible responses to this worry, including reductive naturalism, emotivism, and the ideal observer theory.This is followed by the long central section of the book in which he develops his own response to the worries about moral facts formulated in the first chapter.Harman ends up arguing that there may be moral facts, and that, if there are, these facts can be fit into a naturalistic worldview.However, he claims that these moral facts are relative ones.That is, he argues for a form of moral relativism. He begins with analysis of what it means to claim that someone morally ought to do something, and here he argues for a form of reasons internalism.More specifically, he argues that if it is true that person P ought to do action A, then P has reason to A.He then argues for a relativistic theory of reasons.According to Harman, a person has a reason to A only if there is some process of reasoning that would lead the person to do A (or at least to be motivated to do A).How do we determine what reasoning might lead a person to do?Harman suggests that we can find a clue to answering this question if we focus on the social nature of morality.He presents a view according to which morality has developed through certain social conventions accepted within groups.Moral reasons ultimately depend on these conventions; they apply only to those who have, at least implicitly, accepted the conventions of a group. So a person's moral reasons are supplied by her commitment to the conventional rules of that group. Importantly, persons outside the relevant group, i.e. persons not committed to the relevant conventions, do not have such reasons.And since Harman has argued that one ought not to act a certain way only if one has reasons not to do so, it is not true that those outside the relevant conventions ought not to act as they do.Even if those people act in a way that violates the conventions of our group, we cannot truly say that they ought not to have acted that way.This is perhaps most clear if we consider an example Harman himself uses.Hitler, he tells us, was clearly outside our moral conventions, conventions that rule out slaughtering millions for our political goals.So, while it is true that we who are committed to such conventions (and thus have reason not to act in this way) ought not to do such thing, Hitler had no such reasons and so it was not true that he ought not to have done what he did.Given his psychology and his lack of commitment to any such conventions, there was no reason for him not to have ordered and overseen the Holocaust.And since he ought not to do have done so only if he had such reasons, it's not the case that he ought not to have ordered the Holocaust.We cannot apply our standards to Hitler, who is outside our group, and truly judge that he ought not to have done what he did.Harman thinks that a sort of criticism of Hitler is possible, however--but it isn't possible to correctly claim that he ought not to have done what he did.Harman claims this view is consistent with our normal usage of 'ought' and our intuitions about how it ought to be applied in such cases.We think that we cannot apply our moral standards to a person like Hitler, that he is "beyond the pale." So, on Harman's account of morality, there do end up being moral facts; they are psychological facts about the reasons people have to behave in certain ways.Nevertheless, these facts are relative and not universal. ... Read more |
2. Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind by Gilbert Harman | |
Paperback: 304
Pages
(1999-09-16)
list price: US$50.00 -- used & new: US$40.50 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0198238029 Average Customer Review: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind offers an integrated presentation of this rich and influential body of work. which Harman has developed over thirty years. Customer Reviews (2)
Harman's book
Gil, you RULE |
3. Thought by Gilbert Harman | |
Hardcover: 199
Pages
(1973-03)
Isbn: 069101986X Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
4. Semantics of Natural Language (Synthese Library) | |
Paperback: 779
Pages
(1973-05-31)
list price: US$29.00 -- used & new: US$28.97 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 9027703108 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
5. Change in View: Principles of Reasoning by Gilbert Harman | |
Hardcover: 147
Pages
(1986-01)
Isbn: 0262081555 Average Customer Review: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description Customer Reviews (1)
Worth reading, but there are good alternatives... |
6. Reliable Reasoning: Induction and Statistical Learning Theory (Jean Nicod Lectures) by Gilbert Harman, Sanjeev Kulkarni | |
Hardcover: 114
Pages
(2007-05-01)
list price: US$32.00 -- used & new: US$25.57 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0262083604 Average Customer Review: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description Customer Reviews (1)
A great little book |
7. Explaining Value: and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy by Gilbert Harman | |
Paperback: 256
Pages
(2000-12-28)
list price: US$50.00 -- used & new: US$39.30 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0198238045 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
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8. Skepticism & the Definition of Knowledge (Harvard Dissertations in Philosophy) by Gilbert Harman | |
Hardcover: 184
Pages
(1990-03-01)
list price: US$85.00 -- used & new: US$85.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0824050894 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
9. Conceptions of the Human Mind: Essays in Honor of George A. Miller | |
Hardcover: 296
Pages
(1993-08-01)
list price: US$85.00 -- used & new: US$80.75 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0805812342 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
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10. LOGIC OF GRAMMAR by Donald and Harman, Gilbert Davidson | |
Hardcover:
Pages
(1975-01-01)
Asin: B003CN08U4 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
11. Moral Relativism and Moral Objectivity (Great Debates in Philosophy) by Gilbert Harman, Judith Thomson | |
Paperback: 240
Pages
(1996-01-17)
list price: US$41.95 -- used & new: US$32.79 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0631192115 Average Customer Review: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description Customer Reviews (2)
Definitely worth reading Part of the reason that it isdifficult, with this book, to decide who the winner of the debate is, hasto do with the structure of the debate itself. The authors wrote theiressays independently of each other; they framed the issues quitedifferently from each other, and when responding to each other, theyreframed their opponent's position to meet their own frameworks. Forexample, Harman claims that moral statements are only true or false inrelation to various moral frameworks. Moral Relativism is the position thatthere are many moral frameworks, none of which is more privileged than anyother. Moral Objectivity, as Harman maintains, is the claim that there isonly one moral framework. However, Thomson believes that "moral assessmentis pointless unless it can be found out about some moral sentences thatthey are true", this she takes to be what is at the heart of MoralObjectivity. Moral Skepticism she defines as the claim that "it is notpossible to find out about any moral sentence that it is true." In herreply to Harman's essay, Thomson reformulates Harman's position as claimingthat moral sentences are incomplete; she considers Harman a Moral Skeptic.Thomson sees the issue as primarily epistemic. It is easy to see how thismight confuse some people. However, such is the nature of debate andphilosophy in general. The hardest part of philosophy is to define theissues concretely. In this sense, the book is enlightening. MoralRelativism and Moral Objectivity is definitely worth reading; the authorsintroduce two drastically different perspectives on a very importantsubject.
Disappointing mush from two greats |
12. Gilbert Harman | |
Paperback: 212
Pages
(2010-04-03)
list price: US$72.00 -- used & new: US$71.93 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 6130864949 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
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13. International Socialism: A Quarterly Journal of Socialist Theory - Autumn 2000 by Paul McGarr, Boris Kargarlitsky, Gilbert Archar, Dave Renton, Keith Flett, John Newsinger Chris Harman | |
Paperback: 170
Pages
(2000)
Asin: B0034APEEU Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description |
14. Philosophical Review, Vol. 84, No. 1, January 1975 by Gilbert; Kitcher, Philip; Sievert, Donald et al. Harman | |
Paperback:
Pages
(1975)
Asin: B000WV2I6G Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
15. Semantics of Natural Language by Donald & Harman, Gilbert (eds.) Davidson | |
Hardcover:
Pages
(1972)
Asin: B000MBSMUC Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
16. On Noam Chomsky: Critical Essays (Modern Studies in Philosophy) by Gilbert Harman | |
Paperback: 348
Pages
(1974)
-- used & new: US$94.90 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0385037651 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
17. THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY VOLUME LXXIII, NUMBER 17 OCTOBER 7, 1976 DOUBLE ISSUE: SEVENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION EASTERN DIVISION by Gilbert Harman, Mark Pastin, Fred F (The Journal of Philosophy) [R. A. Fumerton | |
Paperback:
Pages
(1976-01-01)
Asin: B001DRFAFE Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
18. British Economics Writers: Jo Johnson, Chris Harman, Will Hutton, Gilbert Slater, David Boyle, Richard Koch, Martin Wolf | |
Paperback: 32
Pages
(2010-09-15)
list price: US$14.14 -- used & new: US$14.13 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1157060463 Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
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19. Naturaleza de la moralidad. Cuadernos No.39, La by Gilbert HARMAN | |
Paperback:
Pages
(1996)
Asin: B003ZNPICO Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
20. HARMAN, GILBERT(1938): An entry from Gale's <i>Encyclopedia of Philosophy</i> by David Sosa | |
Digital: 3
Pages
(2006)
list price: US$4.90 Asin: B001SCJPFK Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan | |
Editorial Review Product Description |
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