Thoreau's Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of VirtueUniversity of Georgia Press, 25 de jan. de 2010 - 288 páginas Thoreau's Living Ethics is the first full, rigorous account of Henry Thoreau's ethical philosophy. Focused on Walden but ranging widely across his writings, the study situates Thoreau within a long tradition of ethical thinking in the West, from the ancients to the Romantics and on to the present day. Philip Cafaro shows Thoreau grappling with important ethical questions that agitated his own society and discusses his value for those seeking to understand contemporary ethical issues. Cafaro's particular interest is in Thoreau's treatment of virtue ethics: the branch of ethics centered on personal and social flourishing. Ranging across the central elements of Thoreau's philosophy—life, virtue, economy, solitude and society, nature, and politics—Cafaro shows Thoreau developing a comprehensive virtue ethics, less based in ancient philosophy than many recent efforts and more grounded in modern life and experience. He presents Thoreau's evolutionary, experimental ethics as superior to the more static foundational efforts of current virtue ethicists. Another main focus is Thoreau's environmental ethics. The book shows Thoreau not only anticipating recent arguments for wild nature's intrinsic value, but also demonstrating how a personal connection to nature furthers self-development, moral character, knowledge, and creativity. Thoreau's life and writings, argues Cafaro, present a positive, life-affirming environmental ethics, combining respect and restraint with an appreciation for human possibilities for flourishing within nature. |
De dentro do livro
Resultados 1-5 de 58
... Ancient Concept ofVirtue. Recovering the Pursuit of Virtue. Recovering Full Human Virtue. Romantic Virtue. Virtue and Duty. Resolution. Economy First Things First. Economy as Method and Metaphor. The Train to Fitchburg. The Bean Field ...
... ancient sense of someone who succeeded in living a good life and thus can help us in our own attempts to do so. Beyond presenting Thoreau's ethical philosophy accurately, this book has four main goals. First, I want to give professional ...
... ancient Greeks," Emerson continues: for the parliaments of love and poesy, like the Troubadours; nor for the advancement of science, like our co[n]temporaries in the British and European capitals. Thus far, our holiday has been simply a ...
... back to an older ethical tradition. While modern ethical philosophy argues for altruism, ancient ethical philosophy started from an enlightened self-interest. While the modern ethicist's main question is, the challenge 5.
... ancients' main question was, "What is the good life and how can we go about living it?" Modern ethicists typically ask, "What is a just society?" and answer by specifying rights that all should enjoy and a fair distribution of material ...
Conteúdo
1 | |
16 | |
Virtue | 45 |
Economy | 76 |
Solitude and Society | 106 |
Nature | 139 |
Politics | 174 |
Foundations | 205 |
Death | 230 |
A Note to the Reader | 237 |
Notes | 239 |
Bibliography | 259 |
Index | 265 |