Self-governance and cooperation

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Title:

Self-governance and cooperation

Author:

Myers, Robert H.

ISBN:

9780198238393

9780199256594

Personal Author:

Myers, Robert H.

Publication Information:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Physical Description:

179 p. ; 23 cm.

Contents:

Introduction: two problems in moral philosophy -- Misgivings about consequentialism and contractualism -- Cooperating to promote the good -- Initial counter-arguments supporting value monism -- Self-government and value dualism -- Conclusion: implications for the question of morality's authority.

Subject Term:

Ethics.

Cooperation.

Consequentialism (Ethics)

Cooperativeness -- Moral and ethical aspects.

Copies:

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Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025482429	171.5 M996S 2003	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Robert Myers presents an original moral theory which charts a course between the extremes of consequentialism and contractualism. He puts forward a radically new case for the existence of both agent-neutral and agent-relative values, and gives an innovative answer to the question how such disparate values can be weighed against each other. Practical judgement is shown to be guided in this by two very different ideals: an ideal of cooperation, which is held to shape the content of morality's demands, and one of self-governance, which is held to determine the nature of reason's requirements. Examination of the ideal of cooperation reveals that principles of impartial beneficence and rights protecting individual freedoms are equally fundamental to morality. Examination of the ideal of self-governance reveals that morality's dictates, though not necessarily overriding, are always in an important sense inescapable. The result is a theory of morality which combines a balanced account of its content with a ringing affirmation of its authority.