Moral Philosophy in England during the Time of Shakespeare

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-138
Author(s):  
Neema Parvini
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
The Self ◽  
Michel De Montaigne ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Sextus Empiricus ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Philosophical Underpinning

This chapter provides the historical and philosophical underpinning that informs the rest of Shakespeare’s Moral Compass. Divided into four parts, it traces moral thought from antiquity to the time of Shakespeare covering four broad traditions. First, it considers the virtue ethics of Aristotle and, later, Thomas Aquinas, which provide the basic tenets of virtues and vices that lie at the heart of morality in this period. Second, the chapter covers Ancient Stoicism as described by Cicero, and later modified by Seneca and his concepts of the will and the self, which saw a revival of interest in England in the 1590s and 1600s, as evidenced by the work of Joseph Hall. Third, the chapter provides an overview of Academic scepticism, again as described by Cicero, and later reworked by Sextus Empiricus; a mode of thinking that was to prove highly influential in the early modern period, especially for a thinker who almost certainly influenced Shakespeare, Michel de Montaigne Finally, it considers Epicureanism, the impact of Lucretius’s poem De Rerum Natura (“On the Nature of Things”), and its possible influence on the thinker who launched the most a radical assault on traditional Christian virtue ethics in the period, Niccolò Machiavelli.

The Kantian Sublime and Greatness of Mind

2019 ◽  
pp. 197-214
Author(s):  
Emily Brady
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Self ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Human Exceptionalism ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Other Regarding

This chapter explores Kant’s discussion of the sublime in the Critique of the Power of Judgment (1790), in which the aesthetic subject becomes aware of a certain kind of greatness of mind. Kant’s scheme emphasizes respect for the moral capacities of the self as part of humanity, as well as admiration for greatness in the natural world. More broadly, his views show how ideas about greatness—if not magnanimity in the narrower sense—flow into philosophical approaches that lie beyond virtue ethics, moral thought, and human exceptionalism. The chapter argues that a comparative relation between self and sublime phenomena is central to understanding greatness of mind. Drawing out this comparative relation supports a deeper understanding of how both self-regarding and other-regarding attitudes feature within sublime experience, and just how this greatness might express itself within an aesthetic context.

scholarly journals Foucault as Virtue Ethicist

2004 ◽  
pp. 20-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Levy
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
The Self ◽  
Ethical Thought ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Virtue Ethicist ◽  
The Past ◽  
Anglo American

In his last two books and in the essays and interviews associated with them, Foucault develops a new mode of ethical thought he describes as an aesthetics of existence. I argue that this new ethics bears a striking resemblance to the virtue ethics that has become prominent in Anglo-American moral philosophy over the past three decades, in its classical sources, in its opposition to rule-based systems and its positive emphasis upon what Foucault called the care for the self. I suggest that seeing Foucault and virtue ethicists as engaged in a convergent project sheds light on a number of obscurities in Foucault's thought, and provides us with a historical narrative in which to situate his claims about the development of Western moral thought.

scholarly journals Funciones normativas y voluntad de signo

1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (44) ◽  
pp. 27-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto J. Vernengo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Legal Positivism ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Empirical Expression ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Relationship

Legal philosophers and logicians study problems related to the syntactical and semantical aspects of norms, without worrying about the ilocutionary aspects of their use. With Kelsen 's posthumous work, the Allgemeine Theorie der Normen, and the new preoccupations of deontic logicians, it seems that what is called the "normative functions" of norms are becoming a central point of the discussions between logicians and philosophers of law and moralists. Traditionally, the ilocutionary aspects of norms has been construed as the question of the empirical manifestation of the will, as it is suppossed that every norm expresses somebody's will. Nevertheless, that thesis -although traditional in legal and moral thought- implies some metaphysical presuppositions concerning the ontological status of what is called "the will" which must be brought to light if jurisprudence is going to attain a modern scientific approach. In Kelsen's work it seems clear that the relationship between das Sollen and das Wollen is where that old metaphysical idea regains strength. It can be found in Thomas Aquinas -and the c1assicalscholastics- a sort of theory on the empirical expression of acts of will, know as signa voluntatis, which keeps close and analogy with the normative functions of modern jurisprudence. Perhaps the theory of positive law, as manifestation of signa voluntatis, would establish a bridge between modern legal positivism and some forms of classical natural law.

scholarly journals Contributing to Islamic Ethics

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. i-xiv
Author(s):  
Yasien Mohamed ◽  
Norman K. Swazo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
The Self ◽  
Arabic Version ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Islamic Ethics ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Insight Into

Islamic ethics (akhlaq islamiyah), which is concerned with good characterand the means of acquiring it, took shape gradually from the seventh centuryand culminated in the eleventh century with the teachings of Miskawayh(d. 1030), al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 1060), and al-Ghazali (d. 1111). Islamicphilosophical ethics combined Qur’anic teachings, the traditions of Muhammad(s), the precedents of Islamic jurists, and classic Greek (Hellenic) ethicalideas.Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “Verily I have been sent in order to perfectmoral character” (Fainnama bu`ithtu-li-utamima makarim al-akhlaq). Suchprophetic traditions, Qur’anic moral exhortations, and Hellenic ethical writingsbecame the main sources of inspiration for Miskawayh, al-Isfahani, andal-Ghazali. Inspired by the Arabic version of Aristotle’s NicomacheanEthics, these moral philosophers Islamized virtue ethics and focused on cultivatingcharacter and purifying the soul (al-nafs). Although al-Isfahaniinspired al-Ghazali and tried to maintain a balance between the justice of thesoul and the justice of society, the latter developed a Sufi ethics that becameincreasingly otherworldly with its focus on purifying the self. This ethicalmodel later became a source of inspiration for St. Thomas Aquinas andMaimonides.This special issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciencesfocuses on Islamic ethics, especially ethics as applied to such contemporaryissues as bioethics, the environment, human rights, and evolution. Thepapers provide insight into how ethical problems are dealt with within ...

Self-Compassion and Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
The Self ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

Effect of Parental Modernity on Rejection Sensitivity and Self-Esteem of Adolescents

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritu ◽  
Madhu Anand
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Rejection Sensitivity ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Individual Modernity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Parental Modernity is an important aspect for the psycho-social development of the child. The present study aims to study the effect of parental modernity on rejection sensitivity and self-esteem of adolescents and the relationship between rejection sensitivity and self-esteem. The research is carried out on a sample of 240 parents (including 120 fathers and 120 mothers) and their 120 children. For observing the impact of modernity of parents on their children, Individual Modernity Scale was used and administered on father and mother. Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire and Self-Esteem Inventory were used to measure the rejection sensitivity and self-esteem of children (age ranges from 14 to 19 years). The results suggest that parental modernity has an effect on the rejection sensitivity and personally perceived self of the self – esteem of adolescents. Furthermore, the rejection sensitivity has been found negatively associated with self-esteem.

Nihilistic Thinking as the Self-Will of the Mind and the Projects of Its Overcoming

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 74-87
Author(s):  
Irina N. Sidorenko
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Spatial Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Radical Transformation

 The author analyzes the conceptions of ontological nihilism in the works of S. Kierkegaard, F. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger, E. Jünger. On the basis of this analysis, violence is defined as a manifestation of nihilism, of the “will to nothingness” and hypertrophy of the self-will of man. The article demonstrates the importance of the problem of nihilism. The nihilistic thinking of modern man is expressed in the attitude toward a radical transformation of the world from the position of his “absolute” righteousness. The paradox of the current situation is that there is the reverse side of this transformative activity, when there is only the appearance of action and the dilution of responsibility. Confidence in the rightness of own views and beliefs increases the risk of the violent imposition of own vision of reality. Historical and philosophical reconstruction of the conceptions of nihilism allowed to reveal the following projects of its comprehension and resolution: (1) the project of “positing of values,” which consists in the transformation of the evaluation, which is understood as another perspective of positing values, leading to the affirmation of being; (2) the project of overcoming nihilism from the space of temporality, carried out through the resoluteness to accept the historicity of own existence; (3) the project of overcoming nihilism as the oblivion of being from the spatial perspective of the “line,” allowing to realize the “glimpse” of being. The author concludes that it is impossible to solve the problem of violence and its various forms of its manifestation without overcoming “ontological nihilism.” Significant role in solving the problem of ontological violence is assigned to philosophy as a critical and responsible form of thinking, which is capable to help a person to bear the burden of the world, to provide meanings and affirm being, as well as to unite people and resist the fundamentalist claims of exclusivity and rightness.

Virtues, Inclinations, and Oneness

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Ivanhoe
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
The Self ◽  
Virtuous Action

This chapter develops various implications of the oneness hypothesis when applied to theories of virtue, drawing on several claims that are closely related to the hypothesis. Many of the views introduced and defended are inspired by neo-Confucianism and so the chapter offers an example of constructive philosophy bridging cultures and traditions. It focuses on Foot’s theory, which holds that virtues correct excesses or deficiencies in human nature. The alternative maintains that vices often arise not from an excess or deficiency in motivation but from a mistaken conception of self, one that sees oneself as somehow more important than others. The chapter goes on to argue that such a view helps address the “self-centeredness objection” to virtue ethics and that the effortlessness, joy, and wholeheartedness that characterizes fully virtuous action are best conceived as a kind of spontaneity that affords a special feeling of happiness dubbed “metaphysical comfort.”

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