The ethics of our climate: hermeneutics and ethical theory

366 Pages·1994·0.87 MB·English

by  William R. O'Neill

The Ethics of Our Climate : Hermeneutics
title:
and Ethical Theory
author: O'Neill, William R.
publisher: Georgetown University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0878405658
print isbn13: 9780878405657
ebook isbn13: 9780585283784
language: English
Ethics, Ethics, Modern--20th century,
subject
Hermeneutics, Postmodernism.
publication date: 1994
lcc: BJ1031.O54 1994eb
ddc: 171
Ethics, Ethics, Modern--20th century,
subject:
Hermeneutics, Postmodernism.
Page iii
The Ethics of Our Climate
Hermeneutics and Ethical Theory
William R. O'Neill, S.J.
Page iv
To my family
Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. © 1994 by
Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1994 This volume is
printed on acid-free offset book paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O'Neill, William R.
The ethics of our climate : hermeneutics and ethical theory /
William R. O'Neill.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Ethics. 2. Ethics, Modern20th century. 3. Hermeneutics.
4. Postmodernism. I. Title.
BJ1031.054 1994
171dc20
ISBN 0-87840-565-8 94-11004
Page v
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Introduction 1
Part One: The Eclipse of Phronesis 7
*
1 9
Art and Arete
Virtuous Activity is Desired for Its Own Sake 9
The Virtues as Excellences (Aretai) of the Perfect 15
Community
Notes 18
2 21
The Kantian Crucible
The Technical Reduction of Prudence 23
The Distinction of Hypothetical and Categorical 29
Imperatives
The "Objective Necessity" of Categorical Imperatives 33
The Sufficiency of Moral Prescription 39
Notes 44
Part Two: The Kantian Heritage 49
3 51
The Universal Prescriptivism of R. M. Hare
The Stipulation of Universalizability 53
Benevolent Reduction 56
The Indeterminacy of Critical Prescription 57
The Limits of Intuitive Prescription 58
Notes 60
4 62
The Kantian Constructivism of John Rawls
The Tacit Role of Prejudice 67
The Prejudice of Equal Respect 71
Concluding Reflections 74
Notes 75
Page vi
Part Three: Visions and Revisions: Philosophy with a 79
Practical Intent
5 81
The Concept of Prudence
Intentional Actions 82
Hypothetical Imperatives 85
Practical Prescription 88
Concluding Reflections 98
Notes 102
6 106
On the Way to Hermeneutics
On Being at Home in Language 108
The Bounds of Sense 112
Ethics and Hermeneutics 118
Concluding Reflections 123
Notes 124
7 129
A Concluding Theological Postscript
Theological Interpretations 130
The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics 136
Concluding Reflections 144
Notes 145
Bibliography 149
Index 159
Page vii
PREFACE
"'Tis all in pieces" writes the poet John Donne of the "frailty and
decay of this whole world." For virtue and verity are "things forgot"
as "new philosophy calls all in doubt."1 Donne's ''Anatomy" of the
modern world is somber, yet prescient, for the tragedies of our own
day belie the Kantian ideal of an ethical commonwealth. One
wonders, indeed, if we have not built a new Babel, for our differences
seem insuperable and moral theory of little avail: Kant's "formalism"
proves empty, and neo-Aristotelian ethics blindeven religious ethics
succumbs to modernity's grammar of dissent.
In these pages, I seek to chart a via media between these extremes, for
moral wisdom is gleaned, I believe, in the very genealogy of our
differences. The historical criticism of Aristotelian and Kantian moral
theories in Part One sets the stage for a critical appraisal of the rival
neo-Kantian theories of R. M. Hare and John Rawls in Part Two. In
my criticism of Hans-Georg Gadamer's recovery of Aristotelian
phronesis
* in Part Three, I defend a conception of moral wisdom at play in our
ordinary discourse. The final chapter is devoted to assessing the moral
import of religious (Christian) belief, for the antinomy of an "empty"
formalism (Moralität) and "blind" ethics (Sittlichkeit) recurs in the
dispute of the "autonomy school" and "faith ethic" in modern moral
theology. Our hermeneutical reflections may thus be read as a
prolegomenon to an ethics which, as befits our (post)modern age, is at
once truly Christian and of "our climate."
I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Louis Dupré, whose
guidance and criticism have been invaluable in the course of my
writing. His inspiration and I hope his wisdom are reflected in these
1. John Donne, "An Anatomy of the World," in The Complete English
Poems, ed. A. J. Smith (New York: Penguin Books, 1971), 276.
Page viii
pages. I am grateful, likewise, to Professors Margaret Farley and Gene
Outka for their kind and judicious criticism, and to Professor Robert
Bellah with whom I studied Jürgen Habermas. To these, my mentors
and friends, I owe a great debt of gratitude. A Newcombe Fellowship
permitted me to complete my dissertation, which has been
considerably revised to form the present book, and I thank the
Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation for this honor. Finally, I am
grateful to Dr. John Samples and Patricia Rayner of Georgetown
University Press for their diligent labors in preparing the final
manuscript for publication.