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Record Nr. |
UNINA9910953486303321 |
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Autore |
Flynn James R (James Robert), <1934-2020.> |
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Titolo |
How to defend humane ideals : substitutes for objectivity / / James R. Flynn |
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Pubbl/distr/stampa |
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Lincoln, Neb., : University of Nebraska Press, c2000 |
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ISBN |
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0-8032-0261-X |
0-585-31135-8 |
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Edizione |
[1st ed.] |
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Descrizione fisica |
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1 online resource (224 pages) |
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Disciplina |
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Soggetti |
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Humanistic ethics |
Social sciences and ethics |
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Lingua di pubblicazione |
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Formato |
Materiale a stampa |
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Livello bibliografico |
Monografia |
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Note generali |
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Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph |
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Nota di bibliografia |
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Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-204) and indexes. |
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Nota di contenuto |
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Intro -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- How to Defend Humane Ideals -- introduction THE PROBLEM -- Truth-Tests and What We Have Lost -- part one THE LIMITATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY -- Plato and Thrasymachus -- Truth-Tests and Proofs -- Kant and Sister Simplice -- transition AN AGENDA -- Morality and Moral Debate -- part two THE POTENCY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Race and Class -- Superpeople and Supermen -- Justice and Meritocracy -- Humanism and Postmodernism -- conclusion UNSOLVED PROBLEMS -- The Personal and the Conventional -- References -- Subject Index -- Author Index. |
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Sommario/riassunto |
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One of the principal moral and psychological problems of our time is whether humane ideals can be defended. Loss of faith in the objectivity of ethics has encouraged a sense of hopelessness. The notion that no ideal is better than any other, that a humane commitment has no rational advantage over Nietzsche's contempt for ordinary people, has been accused of leaving our civilization without self-confidence or a purpose. James R. Flynn rejects attempts to salvage ethical objectivity as futile and counterproductive. Instead, he uses philosophical analysis to demonstrate the relevance of logic and evidence to moral debate. He then uses modern social science to refute racists, Social Darwinists, Nietzsche, and the meritocracy thesis of "The Bell Curve." Flynn concludes that the great post-Enlightenment project--justice for all |
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