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"This book consists of two essays that are related to each other: "Gut Feelings and Moral Knowledge" and "Moral Reality and Moral Progress." The longer second essay has not been previously published. Both are concerned with moral epistemology and our means of access to moral truth; both are concerned with moral realism and with the resistance to subjectivist and reductionist accounts of morality; and both are concerned with the historical development of moral knowledge. The second essay also proposes an account of the historical development of moral truth, according to which it does not share the timelessness of scientific truth. This is because moral truth must be based on reasons that are accessible to the individuals to whom they apply, and such accessibility depends on historical developments"--

This volume collects Thomas Nagel's recent philosophical reflections on topics of fundamental interest: ethics, moral psychology, science and religion, death and the Holocaust, and the metaphysics of mind. Among the figures discussed are Peter Singer, Alvin Plantinga, Christine Korsgaard, Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Iris Murdoch, T.M. Scanlon, Ronald Dworkin, Samuel Scheffler, Daniel Kahneman, Jonathan Haidt, Joshua Greene, and Daniel Dennett. Nagel consistently defends a realist interpretation of moral truth and resists reductive attempts to subsume ethics to psychology and evolutionary theory. He also defends a pluralistic conception of the content of morality against utilitarianism, including deontological elements such as rights and special responsibilities.

Introduction -- Antireductionism and the natural order -- Consciousness -- Cognition -- Value -- Conclusion

Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions explores some fundamental issues concerning the meaning, nature and value of human life. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom and value. This original and illuminating book aims at a form of understanding that is both theoretical and personal in its lively engagement with what are literally issues of life and death.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- PREFACE -- CONTENTS -- PART ONE: ETHICS AND HUMAN MOTIVATION -- I. The Foundation of Morals -- II. The Traditional Controversy -- III. The Solution -- IV. Necessity and Interpretation -- PART TWO: SUBJECTIVE REASONS AND PRUDENCE -- V. Desires -- VI. Prudential Motives and the Present -- VII. Reasons -- VIII. The Interpretation of Prudential Reasons: Identity over Time -- PART THREE: OBJECTIVE REASONS AND ALTRUISM -- IX. Altruism: The Intuitive Issue -- X. Objective Reasons

Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; PREFACE; CONTENTS; PART ONE: ETHICS AND HUMAN MOTIVATION ; I. The Foundation of Morals ; II. The Traditional Controversy ; III. The Solution ; IV. Necessity and Interpretation ; PART TWO: SUBJECTIVE REASONS AND PRUDENCE ; V. Desires ; VI. Prudential Motives and the Present

John Rawls puede ser considerado como el filósofo político más importante del siglo veinte. Dedicó su vida a la reflexión, la enseñanza y a escribir sobre el problema de cómo los seres humanos, cuyos intereses y valores los ponen en conflictos potenciales, pueden habitar decentemente en un mundo común. Nunca hay un atisbo de información personal en su trabajo publicado, excepto las generosas expresiones de agradecimiento a estudiantes y colegas por sus contribuciones intelectuales. Pero quienes le conocen son conscientes de la importancia personal de sus principales preocupaciones, que han sido siempre las injusticias asociadas a la raza, a la clase, a la religión y a la guerra. ; John Rawls peut être considéré comme le philosophe politique le plus important du XX siècle. Il a dédié sa vie à la réflexion, à l'enseignement et il a beaucoup écrit sur comment les êtres humains qui ont des intérêts et des valeurs qui les opposent, peuvent cohabiter raisonnablement un monde commun. Dans ses publications il n'y a jamais la moindre information personnelle, sauf les gentils remerciements, pour leurs contributions intellectuelles, a des étudiants et collèges. Mais ceux qui le connaissent, sont conscients de l'importance personnelle de ses préoccupations les plus importantes : les injustices associées à la race, à la clase, à la religion et à la guerre.