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The Sources of Normativity
by
Ethical concepts are, or purport to be, normative. They make claims on us: they command, oblige, recommend, or guide. But where does their authority over us come from? Christine Korsgaard identifies and examines four accounts of the source of normativity that have been advocated by modern moral philosophers--voluntarism, realism, reflective endorsement, and the appeal to a
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Paperback, 290 pages
Published
June 28th 1996
by Cambridge University Press
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Jun 07, 2008
Anthony
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
people who value things, people with identities
Recommended to Anthony by:
LG, Drew, DiClaudio, everyone
Shelves:
lazy-summer-reading,
philosophy
Somewhere in the middle of this book you get the feeling that you may, in fact, be a Kantian. Thankfully, that goes away by the end, but at that point you've been overwhelmed by the excellent commentaries by Cohen, Guess, and Williams (and to a less extent Nagel, although he mostly just confused me). Philosophy should always be in lecture form and always be this exciting.
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I try to judge books on whether I find the reading experience good, rather than whether I agree with what the author has written. This is a good example. Korsgaard has written a very good and relatively accessible case of her views of why we ought to be moral - what are the sources of normativity? Her arguments are based on a Kantian perspective, with her own twist. Given the Kantian perspective she takes, a side benefit of this book is that I found it to be insightful about Kant's own moral phi
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Korsgaard is attempting to develop a neo-kantian ethic. Interestingly enough she does this both analytically and dialectically. Analytically in the sense that all her arguments are logical, and always attempting to contain a valid form. Dialectically, in that she is trying to take the good side out of voluntarism, emotivism, realism, etc., and develop them in a Kantian direction. Unfortunately the book largely fails, in my opinion.
Korsgaard makes one too many logical leaps, in the traditional ca ...more
Korsgaard makes one too many logical leaps, in the traditional ca ...more
This book has two characteristics which makes it readable. First, the way that author cultivates her ideas through dealing with different theories of normativity. Second, the way in which she interprets works of some great philosophers such as Hume and Kant.
Furthermore, "normative question" which is introduced as the main question of the book is extraordinary useful to face various theories in ethics. It could be used as a criterion for assessing other theories of normativity. ...more
Furthermore, "normative question" which is introduced as the main question of the book is extraordinary useful to face various theories in ethics. It could be used as a criterion for assessing other theories of normativity. ...more
Like much of Korsgaard's work, I found it interesting but seriously mistaken. ...more
Your reasons express your identity, your nature; your obligations spring from what that identity forbids. [...] For to violate them is to lose your integrity and so your identity, and to no longer be who you are. That is, it is to no longer be able to think of yourself under the description under which you value yourself and find your life to be worth living and your actions to be worth undertaking. It is to be for all practical purposes dead or worse than dead.
Korsgaard seeks to answer the "nor ...more
Korsgaard seeks to answer the "nor ...more
Korsgaard presents a stunning Kantian theory of ethics in a series of lectures. Her writing is lucid and more readable than most philosophical texts, given its lecture format. Her ideas are humanistic, and even existentialist, while preserving the best of Kant's transcendental method and ideas.
Korsgaard argues that Kant's arguments from the autonomy of reason fail to analytically entail that we ought to act under the categorical imperative, as the Kingdom of Ends formulation, in order to be fre ...more
Korsgaard argues that Kant's arguments from the autonomy of reason fail to analytically entail that we ought to act under the categorical imperative, as the Kingdom of Ends formulation, in order to be fre ...more
Excellent, 'Rawls-grade' application of Kant to contemporary philosophy, with an Isaiah Berlin style fluency with the historical literature. She also rights clearly on a complex topic, which is as welcome as it is rare.
In my opinion, things get a little muddled in the 4th lecture, but that might be due to my lack of familiarity with the contemporary versions of the issues. The responses included from other authors are even more of a mess, but since I know at least 2 of them (Thomas Nagel & Berna ...more
In my opinion, things get a little muddled in the 4th lecture, but that might be due to my lack of familiarity with the contemporary versions of the issues. The responses included from other authors are even more of a mess, but since I know at least 2 of them (Thomas Nagel & Berna ...more
I only read one of the essays in this book, but, Gosh, do I really have to get to the other ones at some point. If any one will convince you of being a kantian at this point, and make it beautiful (instead of dry-boring-old-German philosophy) in the meanwhile, it's Christine. Good for her, and for all of us that get to read her.
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Rational normativity? How about western-centric exceptionalism and Aristotelian ethics masquerading as truth? The rational is born from the normative, not the reverse. I disagree with the fundamental tenants of this book.
Korsgaard speaks in a clear, understandable way about exceptionally complex subjects. I don't know to what extent I agree with her conclusions, but she has introduced many fascinating ideas about rationality, morality and where we might find normativity with this series of lectures.
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Yes, I know, a bit beyond my pay-grade, but after failing to understand my step-daughter's essay on the subject, she offered me the book and I feel I owe it to everyone that I get my small head around all this!
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Korsgaard is a legend in modern ethics and meta-ethics, and this book is a pretty good illustration of why that is. The arguments are succinct, poignant, and thoughtful; she considers a pretty wide range of possible views advanced throughout the 19th and 20th century ethics literature. One of the challenges with the book, and it does weigh a bit on my review of the book, is that the language is often more obscure and technical than it needs to be, and dwells on a lot of references within the lit
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Four lectures by a well-known philosopher, published as a book, with critical commentaries by a few notable colleagues, namely, Thomas Nagel, Bernard Williams, GA Cohen, and Raymond Guess. Korsgaard has an agenda; she not only reviews sources of [moral] normativity proposed by her predecessors, but also tries to develop her own reflective approach, based on Kantian ideas. Informative, analytical, and fun to read. The polemical part of the book is worth the time, too.
What I most remember and love about this book is the use of Nietzsche. I read the book primarily to get a wider perspective than the one I had from Nietzsche, and then what I get is different, and more beautiful perspective on Nietzsche.
Made me think I was a Kantian because of its emphasis on the connection of morality with one's self-concept.
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Doesn't seem like it works, but I still can't wait for the sequel...
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A superb reworking of Kantian ethics. Korsgaard's prose is lucid and electrifying, and her arguments are ingenious and (at least part of the time) persuasive. A must-read for anyone.
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If I become a Kantian, Korsgaard's the reason.
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Christine M. Korsgaard is an American philosopher whose main academic interests are in moral philosophy and its history; the relation of issues in moral philosophy to issues in metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, and the theory of personal identity; the theory of personal relationships; and in normativity in general. She has taught at Yale, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the U
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“The reason for participating in a general will, and so for endorsing one’s identity as a citizen, is that we share the world with others who are free, not that we have confidence in their judgment. A citizen who acts on a vote that has gone the way she thinks it should may in one sense be more wholehearted than one who must submit to a vote that has not gone her way. But a citizen in whom the general will triumphs gracefully over the private will exhibits a very special kind of autonomy, which is certainly not a lesser form.”
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