The Holocaust: Moral and Political Lessons

: In many discussions, whether general or academic, the Holocaust is used as a warning of how initially small corruptions can lead to terrible consequences. In particular, it has been seen as illustrating the 'slippery slope'from euthanasia to murder, as showing the consequences of an exaggerated respect for law, and as showing the effects of a corrupt ideology. It is argued that these three points are all somewhat inaccurate, and that 1) the 'slippery slope'occurred much earlier, the so-called 'euthanasia'programme being already murder; 2) it was power rather than law that was excessively respected; and 3) it was the corruption of the sense of moral responsibility that did the real harm, rather than the establishment of any coherent ideology.     

Self-Help,Moral Philosophy,and the Moral Present

In this paper I argue that the lack of interest, among analytic moral philosophers, in the contingencies of our moral present, produces an impoverished moral philosophy, unable to address the moral problems and quandaries of ordinary people. What is needed to remedy this is a broadening of the scope of the moral philosopher’s thought to include a rich attention to moral phenomena of the present. One such phenomenon, attended to by sociologists and critical journalists over the past few decades, is the contemporary proliferating genre of psychologically oriented self-help literature. I display a range of sociological responses to self-help in order to point out aspects of morality that are made visible in these discussions, whereas they often remain invisible in standard moral philosophy. The aim is not to suggest a specific methodology for including such material into philosophical discussions, but rather to urge philosophers to reconsider the range of materials they attend to in their work, in order to produce a more lively engagement with and understanding of contemporary morality.     

试析康德伦理思想的起点及其现代价值

自由、主体、实践理性、善良意志、意志自律以至"绝对命令",在康德那里是相通的概念.正是独立于客体的主体概念奠定了道德的基础.在康德纯粹理性所划分的学科体系中,道德形而上学是作为伦理学的纯粹部分而存在的,它关注的是人的终极目的,涉及的是人的全部使命,体现的是人的高贵和尊严.所以它是优越于人类理性的任何其他追求的,而其他学科都是要为这个最高目的服务的.这是整个康德伦理思想的起点.康德伦理思想注意到了人生、人的理性的双层追求,力图将它们统一于整个先验哲学之中.     

Moral Philosophy and the Ontology of Relations

The essay undertakes to explore the possibilities of mutually fruitful dialogue between moral philosophy and ontology, in particular, the ontology of relations. The latter copes with the question of how relations relate, whereas moral philosophy often ignores the ontological implications of such crucial relations as love and interpersonality. The paper proceeds as follows. First, the ontology of relations is discussed. Second, various examples are analysed. From this, a conception of relation instantiation emerges, according to which to determine which relation actually obtains, one has to take into account (a) the context, (b) the specific content or meaning of the relation, and (c) some action or decision or mode of existence of the relata. This conception suggests that relation instantiation cannot be explained by a single formula. By the help of this conception, Hume's thesis of the identity of killing relations between human and nonhuman beings is questioned. Then, the relation of love is analysed. It is shown that love as a moral relation is perfectly explicable in terms of ontology. Moreover, its essence is best captured by the interrelation of the particulars, the relation of love as a universal, and by the relating action of the particulars. Finally, the alleged relation of universal fraternity (interpersonality as such), linking up each human being to all other human beings, is discussed.     

Said Nursi's Moral Philosophy

This article tests the oft-made claim that Islam and democracy are incompatible because of the presumed authoritarianism of religious morality. The article explores the moral philosophy expressed in the early writings of Said Nursi, concluding that by acknowledging individual autonomy and free will and rejecting authoritarianism as inimical to the exercise of conscience, Nursi's moral philosophy lays the groundwork for an Islamic democracy.     

罗尔斯道德哲学的方法论浅论

罗尔斯《正义论》可以说是其道德哲学方法论的成就。他用实质性理论的规范伦理学的研究方法研究正义问题 ,摆脱了纯形式主义的元伦理学的研究方式 ;用抽象的、思辨的契约论的方法来论证他的两个正义原则的正义性 ,抛弃西方近代传统的功利主义的论证方式 ;他的独特的“反思的平衡”的思维方法在当代道德与政治哲学中成为一种研究纲领     

Moral Perception and the Pursuit of Medical Philosophy

This paper begins by examining the claim that the practice of medicine is essentially a moral endeavor. According to this view, all clinical practice has moral content, and each clinical situation has a moral dimension. I suggest that in order to recognize this moral dimension, clinicians must engage in an interpretive process, and that they must be able to interpret clinical data in ethical terms. However, clinicians often lack the ‘moral perception’ required to appreciate this moral dimension. I will argue that physicians lack moral perception when the clinical data they are given do not offer sufficient opportunity for interpretation. This paper draws on the work of Merleau-Ponty to suggest that this loss of interpretation is, paradoxically, the result of the way that patients experience illness. This thesis may be productive, first, because it suggests opportunities to explore the process of moral perception. This thesis also suggests ways for ethicists and educators to enhance clinicians' perception of the ethical dimensions of clinical practice. Finally, the concept of moral perception, when grounded in the patient's experience of illness, creates a fruitful area of inquiry that warrants inclusion in what may someday be the philosophy of medicine's canon. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

马克思的道德哲学批判

通过彰显马克思的“类存在物”及其“有意识的生命活动”、“自由自觉的活动”等概念的意蕴可以使其被遮蔽了的道德哲学批判得到澄明。人作为“类存在物” ,不但指认了人是社会的存在物 ,而且指证了永恒不变之人性观的虚幻性 ,从而超越了亚里士多德的“人是政治动物”的内涵 ;使人成为“类存在物”的“有意识的生命活动”则内置了马克思对道德准则的理解 ,使他对任何的非人格化的超历史的道德形式主义的合法性产生质疑 ;而人的自由自觉的活动体现了手段性活动与目的性活动统一 ,因而成为人的终极价值和道德本体 ,这构成了对各种形式的道德目的论的批判。     

康德道德哲学思想的起源和理论转向

对于康德前批判和批判时期的分界问题直接导致对其道德哲学思想转向的定位.至少早在18世纪60年代,康德的反思活动就已经奠定了其理论发展的基本方向.经过60到70年代20多年的沉潜,我们发现康德的思想在主要的方面基本已经构筑起未来哲学的大厦,道德哲学也不例外.因此简单地从表面上对康德哲学思想的发展过程进行分期只具有形式的意义,而无实质的意义.     

儒家道德哲学及其审美境界

中国审美文化从本质意义上说是一种与天地亲和的生命文化,儒家传统最基本的特征就是肯定天人之间所具有本体论的一致性,因此儒家不从信仰出发来解释生命的伟大德行,而是从生生不息的生命本身来观照道德的本源。儒家作为生命的实践者,凭借其内在的生命力量,通过澄心静虑、心游目想,通过直观感悟、直觉体悟,以达到人生境界与审美境界的合一。这一过程既是道德主体的一种心理体验,更是道德主体通过一种外在践履工夫的求证。     

Forgiveness and the Holocaust

This paper considers whether we have any reason to forgive the perpetrators of the most terrible atrocities, such as the Holocaust. On the face of it, we do not have reason to forgive in such cases. But on examination, the principal arguments against forgiveness do not turn out to be persuasive. Two considerations in favour of forgiveness are canvassed: the presence of rational agency in the perpetrators, and the common human nature which they share with us. It is argued that the presence of rational agency does not generate a reason to forgive. However, our common human nature may be sufficient to provide such a reason, and evidence for its general reason-giving power can be seen in phenomena such as vicarious shame, and the moral significance which we attach to the notion of crimes against humanity. A reason for forgiveness based on common human nature will not be a strong one, but a weak reason still has some force.     

Redeeming Love:Rousseau and Eighteenth-Century Moral Philosophy

This essay employs Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) as a vehicle to explore love in eighteenth-century French moral philosophy and theological ethics. The relation between love of self and love of God was understood variously and produced contrasting models of the relation between the public and the private. Rousseau, perhaps more than any other figure in the eighteenth century, wrestled with the complex, competing traditions of love, and in doing so he probed and articulated the tension between and the harmony of life alone and life together. Using as ideal types a set of historical models of private and public vice and virtue, the author describes Rousseau's three contradictory proposals for dealing with the corruption of social institutions and the human heart and discloses their underlying cohesion.