In this Book
- Nature and Culture: Ethical Thought in the French Enlightenment
- 1963
- Book
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
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Perhaps the most generative ethical question of eighteenth-century France was how to live a virtuous and happy life at the same time. During the Age of Enlightenment, Christianity fell out of vogue as the dominant and authoritative moral code. In place of Christianity's emphasis on sin and redemption in light of a supposed afterlife, present happiness became recognized as an appropriate end goal among French Enlightenment thinkers. French intellectuals struggled to find equilibrium between nature (a person's individual goals and needs) and culture (the political, economic, and social organization of humans for a collective good). Enlightenment discourse generated a unique cultural moment in which thinkers addressed the problems of humans' moral coexistence through the dichotomy of nature and culture. Lester Crocker addresses these questions in an overview of ethical thought in eighteenth-century France.
Table of Contents
- Half Title
- p. i
- Title Page
- p. iii
- Dedication
- p. v
- Editorial Note
- p. vi
- Half Title 1
- p. ix
- Introduction
- pp. xi-xx
- The Nature and Genesis of Moral Experience
- 1. Natural Law
- pp. 3-74
- 2. Moral Sense Theories
- pp. 75-90
- 3. Experiential Origins of Moral Values
- pp. 91-165
- 4. Corollaries
- pp. 166-215
- Moral Values
- 5. The Utilitarian Synthesis
- pp. 219-325
- 6. The Nihilist Dissolution
- pp. 326-429
- 7. Ethics and Politics
- pp. 430-495
- Supplementary Bibliography
- pp. 523-527
Additional Information
ISBN
9781421435800
Related ISBN
9781421435794
MARC Record
OCLC
1123119243
Launched on MUSE
2019-10-15
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Funder
Mellon/NEH / Hopkins Open Publishing: Encore Editions
Creative Commons
CC-BY-NC-ND
