Moral Vision: How Everyday Life Shapes Ethical Thinking(Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy)

What is moral reasoning? Are we being reasonable when we make moral decisions if we cannot supply compelling arguments, criteria, necessary and sufficient conditions, decisive empirical evidence and the like? In Moral Vision, Duane L. Cady critiques the contemporary inclination to model reason after textbook natural science, noting that our values are not conclusions of proofs or derivations but frameworks in which such reasoning may take place, frameworks that we struggle to understand and explain. Cady goes on to suggest a rich conception of reason beyond that of stereotypical science, one that reflects aesthetic, historical, experiential, and pluralistic aspects of moral thinking, one that widens and deepens descriptions of how moral thinking typically happens. This book will be of interest to anyone wondering what philosophy may contribute to our contemporary struggle with conflicting values and value collisions, both personal as well as cultural.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Ethics and Rationality Chapter 3 Moral Frameworks Chapter 4 Experience in Context Chapter 5 Aesthetic Aspects of Ethical Thought Chapter 6 Morals and Metaphors Chapter 7 Ethics and Pluralism Chapter 8 Moral Thinking Chapter 9 Afterword: Diversity, Relativism, and Nonviolence

About the Author :
Duane L. Cady is professor of philosophy at Hamline University in Minnesota.

Review :
There are two things I find frustrating. One is that although I spent a lot of time in graduate school studying ethical theories, I find that they aren't very helpful in trying to resolve real-life dilemmas...The other frustration is that serious ethical disagreements rarely seem to get resolved, and good arguments – or at least, what seem like good arguments to me – rarely seem to change anyone's mind. A new book by Duane Cady...has given me fresh insight on both of these perplexities. Cady draws on I. Murdoch, S. Langer, M. Nussbaum, and the American pragmatists to develop a rich conception of moral vision that includes the goods of pluralism, nonviolence, and coherence…His clear arguments and use of texts would be helpful for students working through issues of metaethical theory and praxis. A deeply felt, wonderfully clear and heartening book. Moral Vision reflects decades of writing and teaching about theories of war by a philosopher actively engaged in non-violent projects, waging peace. Duane Cady's revisionary moral concepts enable us to think against violence, to see non-violence as reason's dream.