Ethical Sentimentalism
New Perspectives

This volume provides the first comprehensive evaluation of 'sentimentalism' - one of the most dominant moral theories in philosophy today.

Remy Debes (Edited by), Karsten R. Stueber (Edited by)

9781107089617, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 October 2017

302 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.55 kg

In recent years there has been a tremendous resurgence of interest in ethical sentimentalism, a moral theory first articulated during the Scottish Enlightenment. Ethical Sentimentalism promises a conception of morality that is grounded in a realistic account of human psychology, which, correspondingly, acknowledges the central place of emotion in our moral lives. However, this promise has encountered its share of philosophical difficulties. Chief among them is the question of how to square the limited scope of human motivation and psychological mechanism - so easily influenced by personal, social, and cultural circumstance - with the seeming universal scope and objective nature of moral judgment. The essays in this volume provide a comprehensive evaluation of the sentimentalist project with a particular eye to this difficulty. Each essay offers critical clarification, innovative answers to central challenges, and new directions for ethical sentimentalism in general.

Acknowledgements
List of contributors
Introduction
1. Interdisciplinary before the disciplines: moral sentimentalism and the new science of man Michael Frazer
2. Neo-classical sentimentalism Jesse Prinz
3. Moral epistemology for sentimentalists Simon Blackburn
4. Evolutionary debunking arguments, explanatory structure and the appeal of anti-realism Karl Schafer
5. Sentimentalist moral-perceptual experience and realist pretensions Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons
6. Sentimentalism and realism in epistemology and ethics Peter Railton
7. Sentimentalism, blameworthiness and wrongdoing Antti Kauppinen
8. Reactive attitudes and second-person address Michelle Mason
9. The authority of empathy (or how to ground sentimentalism) Remy Debes
10. Smithean constructivism: elucidating the reality of the normative domain Karsten R. Stueber
11. A modest feminist sentimentalism: empathy and moral understanding across social difference Diana Tietjens Meyers
12. Moral sentimentalism in early Confucian thought David Wong
13. Whither sentimentalism? On fear, the fearsome and the dangerous Justin D'Arms and Daniel Jacobson
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Psychology: emotions [JMQ], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy of mind [HPM]