Defending Objectivity

Defending Objectivity
Author: Margaret Archer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2004-07-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 113430398X

Andrew Collier is the boldest defender of objectivity - in science, knowledge, thought, action, politics, morality and religion. The diverse contributions range from social and political thought to philosophy.

How to Defend Humane Ideals

How to Defend Humane Ideals
Author: James Robert Flynn
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2000-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780803219946

One of the principal moral and psychological problems of our time is whether humane ideals can be defended. Loss of faith in the objectivity of ethics has encouraged a sense of hopelessness. The notion that no ideal is better than any other, that a humane commitment has no rational advantage over Nietzsche's contempt for ordinary people, has been accused of leaving our civilization without self-confidence or a purpose. James R. Flynn rejects attempts to salvage ethical objectivity as futile and counterproductive. Instead, he uses philosophical analysis to demonstrate the relevance of logic and evidence to moral debate. He then uses modern social science to refute racists, Social Darwinists, Nietzsche, and the meritocracy thesis of The Bell Curve. Flynn concludes that the great post-Enlightenment project?justice for all races and classes, the reduction of inequality, and the abolition of privilege?retains its moral dignity and relevance.

In Defence of Objectivity

In Defence of Objectivity
Author: Andrew Collier
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2004-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1134402759

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Truth Without Objectivity

Truth Without Objectivity
Author: Max Kölbel
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2002
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780415272452

Kölbel examines and rejects the mainstream view of 'meaning' and how this relates to truth, instead developing and defending an alternative, relativist, theory.

A Debate on God and Morality

A Debate on God and Morality
Author: William Lane Craig
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020-07-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1000093255

In 2018, William Lane Craig and Erik J. Wielenberg participated in a debate at North Carolina State University, addressing the question: "God and Morality: What is the best account of objective moral values and duties?" Craig argued that theism provides a sound foundation for objective morality whereas atheism does not. Wielenberg countered that morality can be objective even if there is no God. This book includes the full debate, as well as endnotes with extended discussions that were not included in the debate. It also includes five chapters by other philosophers who have written substantive responses to the debate - J. P. Moreland, David Baggett, Mark Linville, Wes Morriston, and Michael Huemer. The book provides crucial resources for better understanding moral realism and its dependence on, or independence from, theistic foundations. Key Features A valuable debate about whether or not God is the best explanation for objective morality, bringing together theists and atheists working on the same subject who normally are not in conversation with each other. Includes clear coverage of ontological and epistemological issues in metaethical theories, focusing on Divine Command Theory and Non-natural Robust Moral Realism. Engaging and accessible throughout, making the book well suited for undergraduate and seminary classrooms.

Objective Communication

Objective Communication
Author: Leonard Peikoff
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2013-09-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0451418158

Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism is increasingly influencing the shape of the world from business and politics to achieving personal goals. Here, Leonard Peikoff—Rand’s heir—explains how you can communicate philosophical ideas with conviction, logic, and, most of all, reason. Based on a series of lectures presented by Peikoff, Objective Communication shows how to apply Objectivist principles to the problem of achieving clarity both in thought and in communication. Peikoff teaches readers how to write, speak, and argue on the subject of philosophical ideas—ideas pertaining to profoundly important issues ranging from the question of the existence of God to the nature and proper limits of government power. Including enlightening discussions of a wide range of Objectivist topics—such as the primacy of consciousness, the pitfalls of rationalistic thinking, and the true meaning of the word “altruism,” as well as in-depth analysis of some of Ayn Rand’s own writings—Peikoff’s Objective Communication is essential reading for anyone interested in Ayn Rand’s philosophy.

Objectivity in Law and Legal Reasoning

Objectivity in Law and Legal Reasoning
Author: Jaakko Husa
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2013-01-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782250670

Legal theorists consider their discipline as an objective endeavour in line with other fields of science. Objectivity in science is generally regarded as a fundamental condition, informing how science should be practised and how truths may be found. Objective scientists venture to uncover empirical truths about the world and ought to eliminate personal biases, prior commitments and emotional involvement. However, legal theorists are inevitably bound up with a given legal culture. Consequently, their scholarly work derives at least in part from this environment and their subtle interaction with it. This book questions critically, in novel ways and from various perspectives, the possibilities of objectivity of legal theory in the twenty-first century. It transpires that legal theory is unavoidably confronted with varying conceptions of law, underlying ideologies, approaches to legal method, argumentation and discourse etc, which limit the possibilities of 'objectivity' in law and in legal reasoning. The authors of this book reveal some of these underlying notions and discuss their consequences for legal theory.

Objectivity and the Silence of Reason

Objectivity and the Silence of Reason
Author: George E. McCarthy
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 364
Release:
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781412829908

McCarthy focuses on two key figures, Max Weber and J³rgen Habermas, reopening the vibrant and rich intellectual dispute about knowledge and truth in epistemology and concept formation, logic of analysis, and methodology in the social sciences. He uses this debate to explore the forms of objectivity in everyday experience and science, and the relations between science, ethics, and politics.

Coping and Defending

Coping and Defending
Author: Norma Haan
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2013-09-11
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1483263274

Coping and Defending: Processes of Self-Environment Organization investigates coping and defending within the context of personal-social psychology, with emphasis on processes of self-environment organization. Topics range from ego and stress to personality theory, family, and child rearing. Comprised of 13 chapters, this book begins with a discussion on theories and conceptualizations of ego, paying particular attention to its logical constraints as state; the neomechanical personal man; rational choice; and continuity and discontinuity in states. Subsequent chapters explore coping, defense, and fragmentation as ego processes; immanent value in personality theory; problems and perspectives in investigating ego processes; and the interregulation between structures and ego processes. The next section is largely devoted to empirically based findings concerning the development of ego processing; the link between stress and processing; and processing in families. The final chapter describes research aimed at developing and improving coping and defense scales based on personality inventories. This monograph will be of interest to developmentalists, cognitivists, personologists, clinicians, and social psychologists, as well as sociologists and perhaps anthropologists.

Rationalist Pragmatism

Rationalist Pragmatism
Author: Mitchell Silver
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2020-07-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1793605408

In Rationalist Pragmatism: A Framework for Moral Objectivism, Mitchell Silver draws from a wide array of philosophical fields to formulate a comprehensive theory of ethics. He argues that an understanding of justification rooted in pragmatism leads to practical principles that apply to all those we would recognize as persons. The account bears implications for the nature of selfhood, the freedom of the will, the meaning of moral terms, the power of moral principles to motivate, conceptions of truth, the nature of value, and the use and abuse of abstract moral theorizing. Rationalist Pragmatism develops its pragmatically informed morality in light of prominent ethical schools, as well as relevant topics in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and epistemology, including the correspondence theory of truth, inferentialist semantics, motivational internalism, the source of value, and experimental philosophy. Finally, Silver explores concrete moral and political implications of his theory, demonstrating that metaethics can affect positions regarding the morality of personal relations; the treatment of animals; and political assessments of democracy, socialism, and nationalism. Silver maintains that our interest in truth—our rational nature as practical and theoretical beings—forms us as a community of mutually recognizing truth seekers.