Ethics, Knowledge, and Rule-Following

Starting from a pragmatist point of view the paper dismisses the argument that ethical conduct is always based on knowledge of justifying and applying rules. In a first section I show that Plato and Kant already claimed that the originality of the ethical can’t be represented as either propositional...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ejpap,
Autor Principal: Hetzel, Andreas
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Anglais
Publicado: European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 2016
Acceso en liña:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descripción
Résumé:Starting from a pragmatist point of view the paper dismisses the argument that ethical conduct is always based on knowledge of justifying and applying rules. In a first section I show that Plato and Kant already claimed that the originality of the ethical can’t be represented as either propositional knowledge or a norm, but is instead given to us in a way that is never fully available for our rational grasp. In a second section, I will address the ethical conclusions James and Dewey draw from the fact that ethical demands can’t be translated into forms of knowledge. In a third section, I conclude with an argument for the originality of the ethical based on the thoughts of Stanley Cavell, stating that it is always something more than a mere competence in the sense of a knowledge of rules.