Particularity and Perspective Taking: On Feminism and Habermas's Discourse Theory of Morality

Seyla Benhabib's critique of Jürgen Habermas's moral theory claims that his approach is not adequate for the needs of a feminist moral theory. I argue that her analysis is mistaken. I also show that Habermas's moral theory, properly understood, satisfies many of the conditions identified by feminist moral philosophers as necessary for an adequate moral theory. A discussion of the compatibility between the model of reciprocal perspective taking found in Habermas's moral theory and that found in Maria Lugones's essay “Playfulness,‘World’‐Travelling, and Loving Perception” reinforces the claim that his moral theory holds as yet unrecognized promise for feminist moral philosophy.     

"伦理"与"道德"辨析

在日常使用中,"伦理"与"道德"往往被当作同义词或近义词使用,这种现象已经引起了学术理论的混乱,本文归纳了学术界目前现存的几种有代表性的理论观点,并对"伦理"与"道德"的东西方涵义及二者的相互关系进行了辨析与梳理。笔者认为,西方的伦理与道德的涵义相近,但与中文里伦理与道德的涵义有别;中文里伦理与道德的涵义存在着本质的区别。东西方的词源词义不可能完全对应,更不能以西方文化中伦理与道德的词源学涵义来取代中国文化里伦理与道德的基本涵义。对二者的正确理解必须依赖于相应的文化背景。     

关于伦理道德与智慧

近几年 ,一些论著对伦理道德与智慧的关系问题作了诸多积极的探讨 ,《哲学动态》还开展了这方面的讨论和争鸣。笔者认为 ,这种探讨和争鸣实际上开辟了中国伦理学和道德实践研究的一个新领域 ,其理论与实践意义值得重视 ,有必要继续进行下去。为此 ,笔者在这里不揣浅陋发表几点看法。一伦理与道德相通却不相同 ,伦理与智慧的关系和道德与智慧的关系并不是同一种意义上的关系。因此 ,讨论伦理道德与智慧的关系 ,首先需要对伦理与道德这两个不同概念作出区分。在学理上 ,中国伦理学界很多人长期将伦理与道德看成是同一种含义的范畴 ,以为“伦理…     

道德、宗教和文化的完整性:对跨文化伦理学及公共政策论的意义

分析传统对宗教与道德之间关系的两种模式（A）与（B）都是过分偏激容易引起误解。它们所代表的观点亦不容易在实践中可以持续。（A）模式坚持道德必须直接地依赖宗教作为它的惟一来源。（B）模式则认为道德应完全独立于宗教。然而,欧洲启蒙运动所追求的一种具普遍性和独立于宗教的理性伦却明显已经“破产”。因为并没有任何一个群体能够完全摆脱它自身拥有的历史、文化与宗教遗产。提出一个辩证法的模式,即认为宗教与文化应有一个相互依赖、相互诠释的关系,一个群体／社会的文化完整性才得以保存。这模式对跨文化伦理对话以及公共政策的讨论都具有相当的意义。     

生态伦理背景中的健康道德凝思

健康道德是关于人类健康的一种道德观念.在生态伦理视域中健康道德观念被拓展、更新.它把人的健康、社会的健康和自然界的健康共同作为研究对象.它提出生态伦理视域下的健康道德具有公益性、代继性和共生性的基本特点,提出人人参加,事事参与;健康生活,健康行为;抵制陋习,抵制败俗;爱护环境,履行责任的道德要求.     

Transversal-Universals in Discourse Ethics: Towards a Reconcilable Ethics Between Universalism and Communitarianism

This paper discusses the possibility of an ethics of difference. It begins with an introduction to current poststructural and critical theories in order to show their significance for transcultural politics and ethics. Its theme is formulated in terms of the debate between the affirmation of ethical cognitivism cast in the form of universalism and the advocacy of moral skepticism in the mode of communitarianism. Distancing itself from the idea of universal morality, this paper attempts to respond to the challenge of both communitarians and deconstructionists in contemporary French poststructuralism. In the end, it argues for transversality in place of universality.     

Visions and Ethics in Current Discourse on Human Enhancement

Since it is now broadly acknowledged that ethics should receive early consideration in discourse on emerging technologies, ethical debates tend to flourish even while new fields of technology are still in their infancy. Such debates often liberally mix existing applications with technologies in the pipeline and far-reaching visions. This paper analyses the problems associated with this use of ethics as “preparatory” research, taking discourse on human enhancement in general and on pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement in particular as an example. The paper will outline and discuss the gap between the scientific and technological state of the art and the ethical debates, pointing out epistemic problems in this context. Furthermore, it will discuss the future role of genuine ethical reflection in discourse on human enhancement, arguing also that such discourse needs to include a technology assessment—in the broad sense of the term—which encompasses, inter alia, anthropological perspectives and aspects of social theory.     

A Substantivist Construal of Discourse Ethics

Abstract

This paper presents a substantivist construal of discourse ethics, which claims that we should see our engagement in public deliberation as expressing and elaborating a substantive commitment to basic moral ideas of solidarity, equality, and freedom. This view is different from Habermas’s standard formalist defence of discourse ethics, which attempts to derive the principle of discursive moral justification from primarily non‐moral presuppositions of rational argumentation as such. After explicating the difference between the substantivist and the formalist construal, I defend the former by showing that it is not only intuitively compelling, but also particularly well equipped for addressing four important objections recently levelled against discourse ethics and its political applications (Rawls’s concern that it lacks substantive guidelines, Gunnarsson’s challenge that it has not been proven to be superior to alternative moral conceptions such as utilitarianism, Scanlon’s complaint that it lacks an account of moral motivation, and Galston’s and Young’s worries that it could lead to political practices of cultural imposition). I conclude by pointing out some consequences of the previous discussion for the future of Critical Theory.     

Meaning and Truth in Habermas's Pragmatics

The article examines Habermas's formal-pragmatic theory of meaning from the point of view of his attempt to defend a postmetaphysical yet context-transcendent conception of validity. It considers his attempt to develop a pragmatic account of understanding utterances that emphasises the mediation of knowledge through socio-cultural practices while simultaneously stressing that understanding has a cognitive dimension that is inherently context-transcendent. It focuses on his recent "Janus-faced" conception of truth, looking more briefly at his purely epistemic conception of moral validity. It raises three objections: the first to his attempt to maintain a notion of "unconditionality" that has no otherworldly origins but is purely immanent to this world, the second to the alleged non-arbitrary status of his conception of truth, and the third to his rejection of metaphysical thinking. It concludes that the objections, if valid, have profound implications for Habermas's postmetaphysical enterprise and for his programme of formal pragmatics.     

儒家伦理的基德和荣格的道德观

作为中国传统文化之主体的儒家伦理,已经确立了中国传统文化的"基德"或"母德",这是在长达2000多年历史发展中形成的,经过先秦时期的百家争鸣,形成了独树一帜的儒家思想,董仲舒提出"抑黜百家、独尊儒术"的建议,确立了儒家在中国社会的统治地位。经过以后历代的兼收并蓄和对立融合,发展成为儒、道、佛融合一体的宋明理学,近代中国社会对儒家思想的批判性发展,促使人们对儒家伦理思想进行时代的反思。荣格的分析心理学思想为东西方道德观的比较提供了一种独特的研究视角。     

Morality and Leadership: Examining the Ethics of Transformational Leadership

Morality is a critical factor in leadership that its absence could turn an otherwise powerful leadership model (i.e. transformational leadership) into a disastrous outcome. The importance of morality for leaders is self-evident in light of the far-reaching effects of leaders' actions or inaction on other people. Such proposition necessitates the discourse in the objectivity of universal moral principles as the legitimate basis of a sound understanding of moral leadership. Examining transformational leadership from a moral-laden perspective, this paper argues that morality is a necessary component of leadership and that deontological moral reasoning provides a sufficient ground for morally attractive leadership theories.     

The Aesthetics of Life: More than Ethics and Morality

Studies in Philosophy and Education - This paper explores the general characteristics of the aesthetics of life. Our approach will be in thinking about the aesthetics of life as a domain...     

后现代语境中话语伦理学的困境及其意义

话语伦理学作为交往行为理论向话语政治学过渡的中介,在哈贝马斯现代性理论中占有重要地位;它是当代西方规范伦理学复兴过程中,继罗尔斯<正义论>之后道德普遍主义的又一次强力张扬.但话语伦理学在赢得赞誉的同时,也引发了诸多不满.在这里,且不谈维尔默的善意批评、伯恩斯坦、麦卡锡的谨慎怀疑和麦金泰尔、泰勒的正面交锋;只想揭示在福柯、利奥塔等人的挑战下,话语伦理学在后现代语境中的困境及其意义.     

政治伦理:个人美德,或是公共道德

自上世纪 70年代始 ,政治哲学和政治伦理便逐渐凸显并最终主导了西方哲学论坛。然而在我国 ,这一哲学和伦理学的理论转向似乎刚刚发生 ,学界对此一理论转向的学术意识也才刚刚显露 ,可我们面对的是 ,大量的理论问题和实践问题不断涌现 ,异常复杂 ,难以把握。在此情形下 ,采取学术群体性的民主商谈方式来探究这一理论转向所产生的基础性课题 ,恐怕比学术个体的专题研究更为慎重 ,也更为急迫。2 0 0 4年夏 ,教育部高校哲学教学指导委员会在海南召开年会。期间与《伦理学研究》杂志主编、著名伦理学家唐凯麟先生重逢 ,承蒙先生厚爱如昨 ,托我组织一期学术专栏 ,命之为“政治伦理笔谈”。盛情之下 ,却之不恭。于是诚恳邀请到怀宏、剑涛、建华三位学兄襄助 ,切磋数月 ,始成如下四篇。现惶然贡献于学界 ,祈求抛顽石以引玉璞 ,或求其友声 ,或聆听批评 ,以此促进我国政治伦理的前沿研究。如此或可既不负凯麟先生雅扶后学之美意 ,又可尽我等伦理学者之天职。是以记之 !(万俊人 )