Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy
Bringing together work in ethics, political philosophy, and history of philosophy, the thesis examines the normative implications of the concept of humanity, arguing for a critical, egalitarian humanism that opposes hierarchies of moral standing among human beings while acknowledging our obligations...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
|
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1826309430713516032 |
|---|---|
| author | Wearing, J |
| author2 | Moore, A |
| author_facet | Moore, A Wearing, J |
| author_sort | Wearing, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Bringing together work in ethics, political philosophy, and history of philosophy, the thesis examines the normative implications of the concept of humanity, arguing for a critical, egalitarian humanism that opposes hierarchies of moral standing among human beings while acknowledging our obligations to non-human animals. In the Introduction, I argue for a broad understanding of ‘humanism’ that captures a variety of different views, each with a different conception of the normative relevance of the notion of the human being. I then elucidate two problems for historically influential forms of humanism, namely that they have instituted unacceptable hierarchies among human beings and perpetuated a damaging anthropocentrism. I argue that instead of embracing anti-humanism, we should reform or rethink humanism in such a way that it avoids these difficulties. I then critically examine ethical conceptions of ‘the human’ in the work of four philosophers from apparently disparate traditions – Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Judith Butler, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. I argue that while neither Kantian humanism nor Heidegger’s anti-humanism can convincingly overcome the two problems explained in the Introduction, resources from Butler and Wittgenstein’s work can provide a new basis for a more attractive form of humanism that gives central place to the notion of bodily vulnerability and the need to acknowledge it. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:35:33Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:d92b4952-2e5b-4035-b298-5f722117b233 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:35:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:d92b4952-2e5b-4035-b298-5f722117b2332023-03-01T15:37:03ZEthics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophyThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:d92b4952-2e5b-4035-b298-5f722117b233PhilosophyEnglishHyrax Deposit2022Wearing, JMoore, ASrinivasan, AMulhall, SGolob, SBringing together work in ethics, political philosophy, and history of philosophy, the thesis examines the normative implications of the concept of humanity, arguing for a critical, egalitarian humanism that opposes hierarchies of moral standing among human beings while acknowledging our obligations to non-human animals. In the Introduction, I argue for a broad understanding of ‘humanism’ that captures a variety of different views, each with a different conception of the normative relevance of the notion of the human being. I then elucidate two problems for historically influential forms of humanism, namely that they have instituted unacceptable hierarchies among human beings and perpetuated a damaging anthropocentrism. I argue that instead of embracing anti-humanism, we should reform or rethink humanism in such a way that it avoids these difficulties. I then critically examine ethical conceptions of ‘the human’ in the work of four philosophers from apparently disparate traditions – Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Judith Butler, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. I argue that while neither Kantian humanism nor Heidegger’s anti-humanism can convincingly overcome the two problems explained in the Introduction, resources from Butler and Wittgenstein’s work can provide a new basis for a more attractive form of humanism that gives central place to the notion of bodily vulnerability and the need to acknowledge it. |
| spellingShingle | Philosophy Wearing, J Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title | Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title_full | Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title_fullStr | Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title_short | Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy |
| title_sort | ethics and humanity in post kantian philosophy |
| topic | Philosophy |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wearingj ethicsandhumanityinpostkantianphilosophy |