Suchergebnisse

In June 1957, when he sent this book to the publisher, Max Lerner must have been very tired. The jacket blurb says the preparation took more than twelve years, and this strikes one who has been working at the book for eight months as probably an understatement. As nearly as a lone individual can do, Lerner seems to have read almost everything about the United States. The "Notes for Further Reading" alone occupy 43 pages of small type. Portions of the manuscript were checked by no less than 142 "experts": historians, government officials, musicians, journalists, social scientists, poets, architects, foundation officers, and others.

It has been argued by B. Williams (Morality: An Introduction to Ethics, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1973) that there are incommensurable values, & that the failure to recognize this in practice is an unsolvable defect of utilitarianism in policy choice. It is difficult to find clear examples of values which are incommensurable in the strict sense. One approach is to claim that certain values cannot be compared with each other on a single system of measurements. This can be refuted by supplying such a system of measurement; a sketch for such a system is provided. Money compensation acceptable for giving up a value offers such a measure. While a person would not take monetary compensation for giving up life, in most cases, life can be measured to a degree by compensation acceptable for its being made shorter or longer. Some values, such as the preservation of other living species, may still be incommensurable even on this scale, but this has not been shown. W. H. Stoddard.

"Religious Values and Worldviews" published on by Oxford University Press.