Natural Law and Practical Rationality

A defense of a contemporary natural law theory of practical rationality.

Mark C. Murphy (Author)

9780521802291, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 June 2001

300 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.61 kg

"An impressive tour de force...Any philosopher doing work in contemporary ethics generally, as well as those doing work specifically in the areas of natural law and practical reason, will benefit enormously from grappling with the vigorous argumentation of this book." Review of Metaphysics

Natural law theory has been undergoing a revival, especially in political philosophy and jurisprudence. Yet, most fundamentally, natural law theory is not a political theory, but a moral theory, or more accurately a theory of practical rationality. According to the natural law account of practical rationality, the basic reasons for actions are basic goods that are grounded in the nature of human beings. Practical rationality aims to identify and characterize reasons for action and to explain how choice between actions worth performing can be appropriately governed by rational standards. These standards are justified by reference to features of the human goods that are the fundamental reasons for action. This book is a defence of a contemporary natural law theory of practical rationality, demonstrating its inherent plausibility and engaging systematically with rival egoist, consequentialist, Kantian and virtue accounts.

Acknowledgements
Introduction: natural law and the theory of practical rationality
1. The real identity thesis
2. Well-being
3. The reasons that make action intelligible
4. Welfarism and its discontents
5. The principles that make choice reasonable
6. What ought to be done
Note
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS]