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This volume presents 12 original papers on the idea that moral objectivity is to be understood in terms of a suitably constructed social point of view that all can accept. The contributors offer new perspectives, some sympathetic and some critical, on constructivist understandings of morality and reason

Ethical constructivism holds that truths about the relation between rationality, morality, and agency are best understood as constructed by correct reasoning, rather than discovered or invented. Unlike other metaphors used in metaethics, construction brings to light the generative and dynamic dimension of practical reason. On the resultant picture, practical reasoning is not only productive but also self-transforming, and socially empowering. The main task of this volume is to illustrate how constructivism has substantially modified and expanded the agenda of metaethics by refocusing on rational agency and its constitutive principles. In particular, this volume identifies, compares and discusses the prospects and failures of the main strands of constructivism regarding the powers of reason in responding to the challenges of contingency. While Kantian, Humean, Aristotelian, and Hegelian theories sharply differ in their constructivist strategies, they provide compelling accounts of the rational articulation required for an inclusive and unified ethical community.

Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Contemporary Constructivism and Its Usefulness in a Confucian Context -- Early Childhood Education in China: A Reevaluation of Confucianism and Constructivism -- A Hermeneutic Approach to a Theoretical Framework of Teachers' Constructivist Cocreation -- Chapter 2: Constructivism in Confucian Culture -- Thinking in a Chinese Way -- Constructivism and Confucianism -- Dewey, Confucius, and Tao Xingzhi -- Similarities -- Differences -- Implications for Cross-Cultural Learning Today -- Contemporary Constructivist Theories and Implications -- Flexible Teachers -- Prepared Environments -- Respectful Sociomoral Atmosphere -- The Chinese Context, The Guide, and Its Implementation -- Chapter 3: Constructivist Teaching in China Today -- Chinese Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers' Utilization of Constructivism -- Teacher Preference for Direct Teaching -- Etic Perspectives on the Prevalence of Direct Teaching -- Teacher Utilization of Constructivism -- Research Paradigm Shift -- Proprieties and Benevolence -- The Coherence of Theories and Practices -- Constructivist Teacher Education Theories and Implications -- Act I, Scene I: Active Learning -- Act I, Scene II: Heuristic Teaching -- Act I, Scene III: The Relationship Between Play and Learning -- Act II: DAP Versus Standards - An Example of Teachers' Practical Strategies -- Chinese Teacher Education Policies -- Conceptual Framework -- Chapter 4: A Hermeneutic Analysis of Chinese Teachers -- A Holistic Research Design -- Do Re Mi Youeryuan -- The Chinese Teachers -- Interviews, Observations, and Documents -- Interviews -- Observations -- Documents -- A Hermeneutic Analysis -- Preliminary Analysis -- Constant Comparative Analysis -- Hermeneutics -- Chapter 5: Flexibility and Balancing: Against the "Apprenticeship of Observation".

Nothing that can be said is independent of us. Whatever can be said is coloured by our dreams and aspirations, by the way our brain works, by human nature and human culture. Whoever claims to know or to observe is - according to the central constructivist assumption - inescapably biased.This book presents the views of the founders of constructivism and modern systems theory, who are still providing stimulating cues for international scientific debate. The conversations of Heinz von Foerste

Interpreting Nietzsche on objects -- Against constructivism -- For constructivism -- Objections to constructivism -- Consequences of constructivism -- Nihilism and constructivism -- Nietzsche, constructivism, and pragmatism -- Nietzsche's constructivism and current debates

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Table of Contents -- Are Philosophers′ Actions Realist or Constructivist? -- On the Non-Dualizing Rhetoric. Some Preliminary Remarks -- Ist der Konstruktivismus selbstwidersprüchlich? -- Die Wahrheitsspieler. Strategische Kommunikation als Spiel -- Who Wants to Be a Non-Dualist and Why? -- Jean Piaget und die Erfindung von Radikalem Konstruktivismus und Kybernetik Zweiter Ordnung -- Two Ways of Exploring the World -- The Truth of Social Constructivism -- The Objectivity of Epistemic Values and the Argument from Immersion -- Epistemological Realism, Representation, and Intentionality -- Angelina's Truth: Genetic Knowledge, Preventive Medicine, and the Reality of the Possible -- Neither Realism nor Anti-Realism: How to approach the Anthropocene? -- Ein Bild – ohne Betrachter – hielt uns gefangen. Wittgensteins ambivalenter Abschied vom Realismus -- Relativisms and Their Opposites -- When Paul Met Ludwig: Wittgensteinian Comments on Boghossian's Antirelativism -- Fighting Relativism: Wittgenstein and Kuhn -- Wissenschaftstheoretische Überlegungen jenseits von Realismus, Relativismus und Konstruktivismus -- Realism without Foundation -- Constructed Reality -- Ontological Relativism as Transcendental Nominalism -- Realism about Identity and Individuality of Conscious Beings -- What is the Thing Whose Measure is Money? -- Relativism about Morality -- Slavery and Justice: Williams and Wiggins -- A Plurality of True Moralities? Tracing 'Truth' in Moral Relativism -- Zum Wert von Vertrauen -- Die Erfindung der Sein-Sollen-Dichotomie -- Wird die Moral von uns geschaffen? -- The Sociology of the Supernatural: Wittgenstein's Lecture on Ethics -- Can We Piece Together a Coherent Account of the "Person" from the Writings of Wittgenstein? -- Wittgensteins Philosophieren zwischen Kodex und Strategie: Logik, Schach und Farbausdrücke -- Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard and the Significance of Silence -- Zweifeln können und zweifeln wollen: Über Gewissheit §217–231 -- Rules and Privacy: Remarks on Philosophical Investigations §202 -- Index of names -- Index of subjects