
Dale Dorsey considers one of the most fundamental questions in philosophical ethics: to what extent do the demands of morality have normative authority over us and our lives? Must we conform to moral requirements? Most who have addressed this question have treated the normative significance of morality as simply a fact to be explained. But Dorsey argues that this traditional assumption is misguided. According to Dorsey, not only are we not required to conform to moral demands, conforming to morality's demands will not always even be normatively permissible---moral behavior can be (quite literally) wrong. This view is significant not only for understanding the content and force of the moral point of view, but also for understanding the basic elements of how one ought to live.
This book investigates the extent to which moral demands possess normative authority over individual lives and whether conformity to these demands is always required. Dale Dorsey, a professor of philosophy, challenges the traditional assumption that morality inherently holds normative significance. He proposes a framework suggesting that individuals are not always required to follow moral demands and that, in certain instances, moral behavior may be normatively impermissible.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars in the field of ethics recognize this work as a rigorous challenge to standard assumptions about moral obligation. Readers frequently note the high level of academic density and the technical nature of the philosophical argumentation presented throughout the text.
Page Count:
245
Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191044725
ISBN-13:
9780191044724
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