Practical Reasoning in a Social World: How We Act Together
Cambridge University Press, 1/10/2002
EAN 9780521803786, ISBN10: 0521803780
Hardcover, 216 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm
Language: English
In this book Keith Graham examines the philosophical assumptions behind the ideas of group membership and loyalty. Drawing out the significance of social context, he challenges individualist views by placing collectivities such as committees, classes or nations within the moral realm. He offers an understanding of the multiplicity of sources which vie for the attention of human beings as they decide how to act, and challenges the conventional division between self-interest and altruism. He also offers a systematic account of the different ways in which individuals can identify with or distance themselves from the groups to which they belong. His study will be of interest to readers in a range of disciplines including philosophy, politics, sociology, law and economics.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Practical reason in context
2. The indistinctness of persons
causal interconnection
3. The indistinctness of persons
the personhood of collectivities
4. Practical collective identification and dissociation
5. Practical reasoning
sources and constraints
6. Practical reasoning and morality
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.
"Graham has produced a careful and well-reasoned account of action, agency, and practical reasoning... Recommended for upper-division undergraduates through practitioners." Choice "Overall, Graham makes a compelling case that an adequate normative theory must take account of the social dimension of human life." Ethics, Christopher McMahon, University of California, Santa Barbara "This is the best book in a recent resurgence of interest in social groups." Perspectives on Politics