Rousseau and the ethics of virtue

James Delaney

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is an enigmatic figure in many ways. There is much debate about whether he was an advocate of the Enlightenment project or a critic of it. Sometimes Rousseau seems to be arguing against traditional values and hierarchies. But elsewhere he seems to be an enemy of progress altogether. This book explains Rousseaus true place in the Enlightenment by paying particular attention to his account of virtue. Virtue ethics is one of the main branches in moral philosophy, and its most famous advocate is Aristotle. Many recent philosophers have tried to revive virtue ethics, most notably Alasdair MacIntyre in his 1984 book, After Virtue. MacIntyre argues that the Enlightenment project was doomed to fail precisely because Enlightenment philosophers had discarded Aristotle. They do this by rejecting Aristotles claim that all things are, by nature, directed towards some proper end. The enlightenment figures whom MacIntyre discusses at length in his critique are Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard. And while Rousseau is mentioned as an Enlightenment thinker, very little attention is paid to him. This book puts Rousseaus ethics into historical perspective, showing that Rousseau shares important characteristics with his contemporaries as well as with the tradition of Aristotle. The dichotomy set up by MacIntyre and others between the ethics of the ancient tradition and that of the Enlightenment is oversimplified. By taking a serious look at Rousseaus ethics, we can see that he forms a bridge between these two rich traditions in the history of Western philosophy.

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[目次]

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Rousseau's Conception of Virtue: A threefold Classification of Good Human Beings
  • Chapter 2: Rousseau and Aristotle: Nature and the Sociability of Human Beings
  • Chapter 3: Virtue and Moral Education: Similarities Between Aristotle and Rousseau
  • Chapter 4: Rousseau's Place in Enlightenment Thinking: The Influence on Kant
  • Chapter 5: Rousseau and the Enlightenment Project: A Response to MacIntyre
  • Conclusion. Bibliography
  • Index.

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この本の情報

書名 Rousseau and the ethics of virtue
著作者等 Delaney James
シリーズ名 Continuum studies in philosophy
出版元 Continuum
刊行年月 c2006
ページ数 162 p.
大きさ 24 cm
ISBN 0826487246
NCID BA81565166
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言語 英語
出版国 イギリス
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