The Morality of Everyday Life: Rediscovering an Ancient Alternative to the Liberal TraditionFleming offers an alternative to enlightened liberalism, where moral and political problems are looked at from an objective point of view and a decision made from a distant perspective that is both rational and universally applied to all comparable cases. He instead places importance on the particular, the local, and moral complexity, advocating a return to premodern traditions for a solution to ethical predicaments. In his view, liberalism and postmodernism ignore the fact that human beings by their very nature refuse to live in a world of abstractions where the attachments of friends, neighbors, family, and country make no difference. Fleming believes that a modern type of "casuistry" should be applied to moral conflicts, using examples from history, literature, and religion to explain this moral ecology that refuses to divorce organisms from their interactions with each other and with their environment. |
From inside the book
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Page 12
... arguing that there is a moral ob- ligation to equalize conditions between rich and poor individuals, and even between rich and poor nations, condemn the favoritism we show our friends and countrymen as so much selfishness and greed. To ...
... arguing that there is a moral ob- ligation to equalize conditions between rich and poor individuals, and even between rich and poor nations, condemn the favoritism we show our friends and countrymen as so much selfishness and greed. To ...
Page 14
... argument that takes individual merit as the starting point , some libertarian philosophers conclude that fairness or justice is based on the principle of cuique suum , of letting each man get his just deserts , no matter what the ...
... argument that takes individual merit as the starting point , some libertarian philosophers conclude that fairness or justice is based on the principle of cuique suum , of letting each man get his just deserts , no matter what the ...
Page 16
... arguments as eccentric or irrelevant to modern life , I hope they will return to the mainstream of liberalism with a clearer knowledge of what the older tradition represents . One cannot rationally hold an opinion without considering ...
... arguments as eccentric or irrelevant to modern life , I hope they will return to the mainstream of liberalism with a clearer knowledge of what the older tradition represents . One cannot rationally hold an opinion without considering ...
Page 19
... argument runs , greedy and even vicious individuals confer benefits upon the whole of society , and the world , as a result , tends to “ go round a deal faster . " Two thousand years before Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations ...
... argument runs , greedy and even vicious individuals confer benefits upon the whole of society , and the world , as a result , tends to “ go round a deal faster . " Two thousand years before Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations ...
Page 25
... arguing that the Athenians must defend the empire to preserve their peace. It has been argued, albeit unconvincingly, that Athenian apragmosyne was “un-Greek.”12 On the contrary, it was the excessive public demands made by the Athenian ...
... arguing that the Athenians must defend the empire to preserve their peace. It has been argued, albeit unconvincingly, that Athenian apragmosyne was “un-Greek.”12 On the contrary, it was the excessive public demands made by the Athenian ...
Contents
1 | |
18 | |
42 | |
Too Much Reality | 69 |
Growing Up Unabsurd | 95 |
Problems of Perspective | 135 |
The Myth of Individualism | 167 |
Goodbye Old Rights of Man | 194 |
Bibliography | 235 |
Index | 251 |
Other editions - View all
The Morality of Everyday Life: Rediscovering an Ancient Alternative to the ... Thomas Fleming No preview available - 2004 |
The Morality of Everyday Life: Rediscovering an Ancient Alternative to the ... Thomas Fleming No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
abstract Alasdair MacIntyre American ancient Antigone argued argument Aristotle Athenian Carol Gilligan casuistry Catholic century charity child Christian Church citizens civil claims common concept Creon cultural depends Descartes divine duty ethical European evil example fact father feel French friends friendship G. K. Chesterton global Goodbye Greek Growing Up Unabsurd happiness hero human rights ideal identity impartial Jefferson Jews John Johnson justice justify killed Kohlberg Kosovo language Lawrence Kohlberg liberal liberty live loyalty ment modern moral development Morality of Everyday mother Myth of Individualism nation-state nationalist natural neighbor Neoptolemus object obligation Old Rights one’s parents patriotism person Philoctetes philosophers Plato Plutarch political poor principle Problems of Perspective question reality reason regard religion religious responsibility Roman rules Samuel Johnson sense Serbs social society Stoic story strangers theory things Thomas tion tradition University Press virtue Voltaire women