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Morality and Universality

Essays on Ethical Universalizability

  • Book
  • © 1985

Overview

Editors:
  1. Nelson T. Potter

    1. Department of Philosophy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA

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  2. Mark Timmons

    1. Department of Philosophy, Illinois State University, Normal, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Theory and Decision Library (TDLU, volume 45)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxxii
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  2. Ethical Universalizability: A Variety of Thesis

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. The How and Why of Universalizability

      • Jan Narveson
      Pages 3-44

  3. Universalizability and Ethical Consistency

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 45-45
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    2. Universalizability and the Generalization Principle

      • Marcus G. Singer
      Pages 47-73

    3. The Universalizability Dilemma

      • Wlodzimierz Rabinowicz
      Pages 75-90

    4. Universalizability and the Commitment to Impartiality

      • Kai Nielsen
      Pages 91-101

    5. Reflections on a Passage in Mill’s Utilitarianism

      • Frederick A. Olafson
      Pages 103-114

    6. Reason, Impartiality and Utilitarianism

      • Michael Gorr
      Pages 115-138

    7. Abortion and the Civil Rights of Machines

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 139-156

  4. Kantian Universalizability

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157
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    2. Consistency in Action

      • Onora O’Neill
      Pages 159-186

    3. Kantian Universalizability and the Objectivity of Moral Judgments

      • George Nakhnikian
      Pages 187-233

  5. Consequentialist Universalizability

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 235-235
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    2. Utilitarianism, Universalization, Heteronomy and Necessity or Unkantian Ethics

      • Jonathan Harrison
      Pages 237-265

    3. The Deontic Structure of the Generalization Argument

      • Charles M. Cork III
      Pages 267-284

    4. Moral Reasons and the Generalization Test in Ethics

      • Norman Gillespie
      Pages 285-295

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 297-312
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Keywords

About this book

In the past 25 years or so, the issue of ethical universalizability has figured prominently in theoretical as well as practical ethics. The term, 'universaliz­ ability' used in connection with ethical considerations, was apparently first introduced in the mid-1950s by R. M. Hare to refer to what he characterized as a logical thesis about certain sorts of evaluative sentences (Hare, 1955). The term has since been used to cover a broad variety of ethical considerations including those associated with the ideas of impartiality, consistency, justice, equality, and reversibility as well as those raised in the familar questions: 'What if everyone did that?' and 'How would you like it if someone did that to you? But this recent effloresence of the use of the term 'universalizability' is something that has deep historical roots, and has been central in various forms to the thinking about morality of some of the greatest and most influential philosophers in the western tradition. While the term is relatively new, the ideas it is now used to express have a long history. Most of these ideas and questions have been or can be formulated into a principle to be discussed, criticized, or defended. As we discuss these ideas below this prin­ ciple will be stated on a separate numbered line. The concepts of justice and equality were closely linked in Greek thought. These connections between these two concepts are apparent even in two authors who were hostile to the connection, Plato and Aristotle.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Philosophy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA

    Nelson T. Potter

  • Department of Philosophy, Illinois State University, Normal, USA

    Mark Timmons

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Morality and Universality

  • Book Subtitle: Essays on Ethical Universalizability

  • Editors: Nelson T. Potter, Mark Timmons

  • Series Title: Theory and Decision Library

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5285-0

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: D. Reidel Publishing Company 1985

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-90-277-1909-6Published: 30 September 1985

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-010-8834-3Published: 01 November 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-5285-0Published: 06 December 2012

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXXII, 314

  • Topics: Philosophy of the Social Sciences

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