{"product_id":"the-matter-of-evil-from-speculative-realism-to-ethical-pessimism-paperback-softback-9780810146402","title":"The Matter of Evil; From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism (Paperback \/ softback) 9780810146402","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Matter of Evil\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eFrom Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eDrew M. Dalton (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780810146402, Northwestern University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 15 October 2023\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e344 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.272 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e“What if nature were evil rather than good or morally neutral? Drew M. Dalton ably defends this counterintuitive hypothesis and rigorously draws out its normative consequences. His critical engagement with the history of continental philosophy is thorough and impressive.” - Andrew Cutrofello, author of \u003ci\u003eAll for Nothing: Hamlet's Negativity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Drew M. Dalton writes with clarity, passion, and purpose, weaving together philosophical, mathematical, and scientific perspectives. Grounded in ethical pessimism, this book offers a truly entropic moral theory that will profoundly illuminate and deeply unsettle readers.” - Shannon M. Mussett, author of \u003ci\u003eEntropic Philosophy: Chaos, Breakdown, and Creation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eA provocative and entirely new account of ethical reasoning that reconceives the traditional understanding of ethical action negatively\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In this radical reconsideration of ethical reasoning in contemporary European philosophy, Drew M. Dalton makes the case for an absolutely grounded account of ethical normativity developed from a scientifically informed and purely materialistic metaphysics. Expanding on speculative realist arguments, Dalton argues that the limits placed on the nature of ethical judgments by Kant’s critique can be overcome through a moral evaluation of the laws of nature--specifically, the entropic principle that undergirds the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology. In order to extract a moral meaning from this simple material fact, Dalton scrutinizes the presumptions of classical accounts and traditional understandings of good and evil within the history of Western philosophy and ultimately asserts that ethical normativity can be reestablished absolutely without reverting to dogmatism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e By overturning our assumptions about the nature and value of reality, \u003ci\u003eThe Matter of Evil: From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism\u003c\/i\u003e presents a provocative new model of ethical responsibility that is both logically justifiable and scientifically sound. Dalton argues for “ethical pessimism,” a position previously marginalized in the West, as a means to cultivate an account of ethical responsibility and political activism that takes seriously the unbecoming of being and the moral horror of existence.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIntroduction –\u003cbr\u003e The Matter of Evil\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 1 –\u003cbr\u003e After Kant: The End of Western Metaphysics and Ethics?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 2 –\u003cbr\u003e Absolutes within the Bounds of Reason: Speculative Realism and the Return of the Absolute\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 3 –\u003cbr\u003e Towards a Post-Critical Ethics: Meillassoux and Badiou on the Mathematization of Nature and the Possibility of Absolute Metaphysical and Moral Claims\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 4 –\u003cbr\u003e The Science of Entropic Absolutes: The (Dis)Order of Nature\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 5 –\u003cbr\u003e The Value of Science and the Science of Value: Re-Evaluating the Moral Neutrality of Material Reality\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 6 –\u003cbr\u003e Moral Value and Absolute Necessity: Baruch Spinoza'\u003cbr\u003es Metaphysical Monism\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 7 –\u003cbr\u003e The Monstrous Will of Nature: Arthur Schopenhauer'\u003cbr\u003es Ethical Monism\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 8 –\u003cbr\u003e The Specter of Nihilism: Friedrich Nietzsche'\u003cbr\u003es Moral Naturalism\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 9 –\u003cbr\u003e The Ethical Potency of Pessimism: Schopenhauerian Negation, Buddhist Renunciation, and the Political Activism of Philipp Mainlä\u003cbr\u003ender\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter 10 –\u003cbr\u003e New Directions in Pessimism: Cosmic Pessimism, Afropessimism, and Extinctual Nihilism\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConclusion –\u003cbr\u003e From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism: The Evangel of Entropy and the Ethics of Resistance\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNotes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBibliography\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndex\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Northwestern University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52670830674200,"sku":"9780810146402","price":25.59,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-matter-of-evil-from-speculative-realism-to-ethical-pessimism-paperback-softback-9780810146402","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}