From Principles to Practice O'Neill Paperback Cambridge University Press

From Principles to PracticeNormativity and Judgement in Ethics and Politics

Although abstract principles alone cannot guide action, they can be combined to shape good practical judgement and change the world.

Onora O'Neill (Author)

9781107534353, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 20 September 2018

234 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.39 kg

'Onora O'Neill has done seminal work on the interpretation of Kant's moral theory and the development of a modern Kantian ethic over the last several decades. This volume collects several recent essays that take up the role of principles in moral reasoning, the relation between principles and judgement, and related issues. Professor O'Neill's views and insights about these questions are invaluable. This volume will be of interest to anyone working in moral or political philosophy.' Andrews Reath, University of California

Knowledge aims to fit the world, and action to change it. In this collection of essays, Onora O'Neill explores the relationship between these concepts and shows that principles are not enough for ethical thought or action: we also need to understand how practical judgement identifies ways of enacting them and of changing the way things are. Both ethical and technical judgement are supported, she contends, by bringing to bear multiple considerations, ranging from ethical principles to real-world constraints, and while we will never find practical algorithms - let alone ethical algorithms - that resolve moral and political issues, good practical judgement can bring abstract principles to bear in situations that call for action. Her essays thus challenge claims that all inquiry must use either the empirical methods of scientific inquiry or the interpretive methods of the humanities. They will appeal to a range of readers in moral and political philosophy.

AcknowledgementsIntroductionNote on the references to Kant's worksPart I. Why Practical Principles Matter: 1. Modern moral philosophy and the problem of relevant descriptions2. Two cultures fifty years on3. Scientific inquiry and normative reasoningPart II. Abstract Principles and Practical Judgement: 4. Abstraction, idealisation and ideology5. Normativity and practical judgement6. Instituting principles: between duty and action7. Experts, practitioners and practical judgement8. Kant on indeterminacy, judgement and interpretationPart III. Means, Ends and Demands: 9. Reason and the resolution of disputes10. Consequences for non-consequentialists11. Demandingness and rulesPart IV. 'Applied' Ethics and Practical Judgement: 12. Applied ethics: naturalism, normativity and public policy13. Practical principles and practical judgement in bioethics14. Enactable and enforceable: Kant's criteria for right and virtueIndex.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]