The Theory of Practical Reason (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 305 A final comment on the physical appearance of this volume. On the one hand the author has been extremely solicitous about giving us (in an appendix) the exact French and German texts in the original which he has translated, even where no conceivable difficulty is involved , and he follows in this and other matters the kind of admirable meticulousness which only graduate students writing their dissertations can muster. But, on the other hand, the book has been published with an unconscionable number of typographical errors and mispellings, with no comprehensive bibliography, and with an index which is incomplete and inaccurate. JAMES M. EDm Northwestern University The Theory o] Practical Reason. By Arthur E. Murphy, ed. by A. I. Melden. (La Salle, Ill.: Open Court, 1965. Pp. xviii -}-440. $8.00.) The Theory o] Practical Reason was delivered as the tenth series of the Carus Lectures by the late Professor Arthur Murphy at the meetings of the American Philosophical Association held at the University of California, Berkeley, in December, 1955. Murphy continued work on the manuscript, completing everything except a few details, until just before he died in May, 1962. After Murphy's death, Professor A. I. Melden took over the task of editing the manuscript and seeing it through the press. The Theory o] Practical Reason is a book of a kind seldom seen in philosophy these days. For one thing, it is a big book, over four hundred pages long. Although it is mainly concerned with ethical theory, it ranges broadly, over most of the traditional problems of ethics-the meaning of rightness, goodness, and moral obligation, the nature of will and the problem of human freedom, personal responsibility, the moral community, facts and values, and so on--discussing all of these within the concrete context of human life and social relationships . Finally, the book is an articulate expression of its author's wisdom and wide experience of life. The profound understanding of the moral involvements of human life that it reveals is probably its most striking and, to my mind, certainly its most impressive feature. In style, intent, and scope---although not in the views expressed in it---the book is more in the tradition of the nineteenth century, of writers like Green, Royce, and, perhaps, James, than of contemporary ethical theory. Nevertheless, Murphy would, I am sure, not consider his sole, or even his primary purpose in writing the book to be that of the purveyor of wisdom. Wise man though he undoubtedly was, he was also a philosopher, in the more technical sense of the word. As its title indicates, the book is concerned with ethical theory. In it Murphy states, elaborates, and defends a theory of practical reason. And I think it is my proper task as a reviewer to concentrate my attention on his theory. I can express my admiration of Murphy's wisdom, but I cannot do much more than that---beyond recommending the book to others. Regarding his theory of practical reason, however, there is a lot that can be said. I shall devote the remainder of this review to making a few remarks about it. Murphy's general procedure in the book is to devote each chapter to some major problem of ethics. Usually he begins by stating the problem as it actually arises in the practical context of our everyday lives, then goes on to describe how traditional moral philosophers have attempted to deal with it. After criticizing their attempts, he concludes the chapter with an explanation of the way in which his own theory solves the problem. Throughout , Murphy is quite critical of the main tradition of Western ethical theory. His comments are often very perceptive and his criticisms of traditional figures, like Kant or Mill, sometimes quite convincing. On occasion, however, his critiques are marred by his failure to understand the author he is attacking. He sees in the history of ethics two major complementary traditions, both misguided: rationalism and skepticism. Little need be said here about his objections to skepticism, for he is himself concerned to develop a theory of moral action based on reason. Hence his most serious rivals are the rationalists, who...