Ethics in Context

178 Pages·1988·16.365 MB·English

by  Howard P. Kainz (auth.)

ETHICS IN CONTEXT
By the same author
HEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT WITH MARX'S
COMMENTARY
THE UNBINDING OF PROMETHEUS
HEGEL'S PHENOMENOLOGY, Parts I and II
ETHICA DIALECTICA
THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAN
DEMOCRACY EAST AND WEST
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PEACE
Ethics in Context
Towards the Definition and
Differentiation of the Morally Good
HOWARD P. KAINZ
Professor of Philosophy
Marquette University, Milwaukee
Foreword by Vernon J. Bourke
M
MACMILLAN
PRESS
ISBN 978-0-333-43612-7 ISBN 978-1-349-19176-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-19176-5
© Howard P. Kainz 1988
Foreword © Vernon J. Bourke 1988
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1988 978-0-333-43611-0
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First published 1988
Published by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Kainz, Howard P.
Ethics in context: towards the definition
and differentiation of the morally good.
1. Ethics-History
L Title
170'.9 BJ71
Contents
Foreword by Vernon J. Bourke ix
Preface xi
1 Aristotelian 'Happiness', Revisited 1
(a) The Aesthetic/Moral Dimensions 3
(b) Subjective/Objective Polarity 4
(c) Kantian 'Happiness' and Utilitarian 'Good' 6
2 Aesthetic Good 8
(a) Terminological Considerations 8
(b) Methodological Considerations 9
(c) Aesthetic Good Proper 12
(d) Aesthetic/Moral Good 15
1. Attempts to Clarify AestheticlMoral
Subjective Dispositions 16
1.1. Moral Sense Theories 16
1.2. Theories of Temperament 18
2. Attempts to Ascertain Objective Aesthetid
Moral Standards 23
2.1. AesthetidMoral Relativism 24
2.2. Sociobiology; Reciprocal and
Group Altruism 26
2.3. Kohlberg's Theory of Moral
Development 27
3 Moral Good 30
(a) Attempts to Ascertain and/or Promote
Subjective Dispositions Congruent to Morality 37
1. Procedures for Ascertaining/Promoting Self-
Determination 38
1.1. Plato: Gyges' Ring 38
1.2. Kant: the Notion of Duty 40
1.3. Sartre: Good Faith 43
v
vi Contents
2. Procedures for Ascertaining/Promoting
Rationality 46
2.1. The Golden Rule: Universality,
Self-Consistency and Means-End
Subordination 46
2.2. Aristotle: Moderation and Sanity 48
2.3. Spinoza: Sublimation 50
2.4. Adam Smith: Objectivity, Impartiality 53
2.5. Kant: Universality and Self-
Consistency 54
2.6. Kant: Means-End Proportionment 58
3. Procedures for Ascertaining/Inculcating
Self-Consciousness 61
3.1. Socrates: Critical Self-Knowledge 61
3.2. Kierkegaard: Knowledge and
Choice of One's Self 64
4. A Procedure for Ascertaining/Promoting
Advanced Social Consciousness: Kant's
'Kingdom of Ends' 67
(b) Attempts to Ascertain and/or Promote
Objective Norms to which Human Behaviour
Should Correspond 69
1. Natural Law Theories 69
1.1. Stoicism 70
1.2. Thomistic Natural Law 73
1.3. The Empirical Natural Law 76
2. Benthamite 'Social Utility' as a Strictly
Objective Norm 78
3. Marxism 83
3.1. Marxism as a Conception of
Evolving Nature 85
3.2. Marxism as a Theory of Universal
Fulfilment and Solidarity 86
(c) Some Attempts at Ethical Correlativism 90
1. Hegel: the Good and Conscience 91
2. Nietzsche: the Will to Power and the
Superman 91
3. Dewey: Natural, Social and Personal
Evolution 92
(d) Contemporary Trends 93
(e) The MorallReligious Sphere 96
Contents vii
4 Religious Good and the Common Good 97
(a) Religious Good 98
(b) The Common Good 103
5 The Fully Differentiated Moral Good 106
(a) The Nature of Ethical Theories 106
(b) The Nature of the Morally Good 109
(c) Appendix: The Decalogue as a Case Study 112
6 Interconnections 116
(a) Ethics and Aesthetics 117
1. Divergences 117
2. Subjunctions 117
2.1. The Subjunction of Aesthetics to
Morality 117
2.2. The Subjunction of Ethics to
Aesthetics 118
3. Category Mistakes 118
3.1. Homophilia 118
3.2. Racial, Ethnic and National
Characteris tics 118
3.3. Pornography 119
3.4. Cohabitation 120
(b) Morality and Religion 121
1. Divergences 121
2. Subjunctions 122
2.1. The Subjunction of Religion to
Morality 122
2.2. The Subjunction of Morality to
Religion 123
3. Category Mistakes 123
3.1. Contraception 123
3.2. Conscientious Objection 124
(c) Morality and Politics 125
1. Divergences 125
2. Subjunctions 126
2.1. The Subjunction of Politics to
Morality 126
2.2. The Subjunction of Morality to Politics 126
viii Contents
3. Category Mistakes 127
3.1. The Right of National 'Sel£
Determination' 127
3.2. The Defensive Use of Nuclear
Weaponry 128
3.3. Combating Overpopulation 129
(d) Morality and Legality 131
1. Divergences 131
2. Subjunctions 132
2.1. The Subjunction of Legality to
Morality 132
2.2. The Subjunction of Morality to
Legality 132
3. A Category Mistake: the Prohibition of
Abortion 133
Conclusion 135
Notes 136
Bibliography 149
Index 156
Foreword
Vernon J. Bourke
While Howard Kainz in this book frankly asserts his debts to
Aristotelian ethics and the Christian interpretation of Aristotle
provided by Thomas Aquinas, his aim is not to return to Greek
classicism or medieval scholasticism. Kainz sees ethics in the new
context of present-day thinking, both Continental-European and
British-American.
Much of his initial discussions are devoted to the comparison and
differentiation of the aesthetic and moral good. But also involved is
the question of whether ethical judgement rests on prior
dispositions of the agent (good will, sense of duty, etc.) or on
external and utilitarian considerations. All of this is reminiscent of
Aristotle's notion that human well-being (eudaimonia) requires both
activity in accord with virtue (an intra-psychic base) and some
external advantages, such as good friends, health, good fortune
(extra-psychic and objective). Here Kainz's readiness to see both
sides of an issue prepares the way for a viable resolution of the
problem.
Most people have not thought about what constitutes a really
good life. Nor do they know how to go about the reasoning that
might lead to an ideal of success as humans. Of course, many of us
are so concerned about earning a living that we find little time to
apply ourselves to philosophical questions. But what is more
practical than considering how to live well? What is the point to
having a mind, if we fail to use it on the most challenging of
questions?
Not only students but also the general public should be interested
in what it means to be a good person. In the literature of the history
of ethics one may find dozens of answers to this problem. That is
part of the difficulty: perhaps there are too many solutions. But that
observation misses the point. In working out one's own philosophy
of life (something no one else can do for you) it may be just as useful
to study a bad solution (so that it may be quickly discarded) as to
pursue a promising view (so that it may be developed and adapted
to one's own circumstances).
ix