Moral Teleology

This book develops a unified theory of moral progress. The author argues that there are mechanisms in place that consistently drive societies towards moral improvement and that a sophisticated, naturalistically respectable form of teleology can be defended. The book’s main aim is to flesh out th...

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Main Author: Sauer, Hanno
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis 2023
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Online Access:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63220
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author Sauer, Hanno
author_browse Sauer, Hanno
author_facet Sauer, Hanno
author_sort Sauer, Hanno
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This book develops a unified theory of moral progress. The author argues that there are mechanisms in place that consistently drive societies towards moral improvement and that a sophisticated, naturalistically respectable form of teleology can be defended. The book’s main aim is to flesh out the process of moral progress in more detail, and to show how, when the right mechanisms and institutions of moral progress are matched together, they create pressure for the desired types of moral gains to manifest. The first part of the book deals with two issues: the conceptual one about what moral progress is, and the broadly empirical one whether it is possible. It shows that cultural evolution successfully explains the origins of modern forms of morally welcome change. The second part argues that there is logical space for a moderate, scientifically credible form of teleology, and that the converse case for moral decline is weak. It addresses the types, drivers, and institutions of moral progress that allow for the storage, transmission, and cumulative improvement of our normative infrastructure over time. Finally, the third part demonstrates why moral progress cannot be accounted for in metaethically realist terms. Moral Teleology will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in ethics, moral epistemology, and moral psychology.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1004822025-05-08T05:37:27Z Moral Teleology Sauer, Hanno ambivalence;autonomy;benevolence;disagreement;functionalism;Hanno Sauer;metaethics;moral facts;moral knowledge;moral progress;moral psychology;moral regress;moral status;moral teleology;moral universalism;norms;practices;sociability;socially extended mind;well-being This book develops a unified theory of moral progress. The author argues that there are mechanisms in place that consistently drive societies towards moral improvement and that a sophisticated, naturalistically respectable form of teleology can be defended. The book’s main aim is to flesh out the process of moral progress in more detail, and to show how, when the right mechanisms and institutions of moral progress are matched together, they create pressure for the desired types of moral gains to manifest. The first part of the book deals with two issues: the conceptual one about what moral progress is, and the broadly empirical one whether it is possible. It shows that cultural evolution successfully explains the origins of modern forms of morally welcome change. The second part argues that there is logical space for a moderate, scientifically credible form of teleology, and that the converse case for moral decline is weak. It addresses the types, drivers, and institutions of moral progress that allow for the storage, transmission, and cumulative improvement of our normative infrastructure over time. Finally, the third part demonstrates why moral progress cannot be accounted for in metaethically realist terms. Moral Teleology will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in ethics, moral epistemology, and moral psychology. 2023-06-07T04:01:32Z 2023-06-07T04:01:32Z 2023-06-06T08:46:25Z 2023 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63220 9781032451800 9781032451817 9781003375753 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/100482 eng Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63220/1/9781000899566.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63220/1/9781000899566.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63220/1/9781000899566.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63220/1/9781000899566.pdf Taylor & Francis 10.4324/9781003375753 10.4324/9781003375753 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 H2020 European Research Council 178e65b9-dd53-4922-b85c-0aaa74fce079 9781032451800 9781032451817 9781003375753 European Research Council (ERC) EU collection 226 open access
spellingShingle ambivalence;autonomy;benevolence;disagreement;functionalism;Hanno Sauer;metaethics;moral facts;moral knowledge;moral progress;moral psychology;moral regress;moral status;moral teleology;moral universalism;norms;practices;sociability;socially extended mind;well-being
Sauer, Hanno
Moral Teleology
title Moral Teleology
title_full Moral Teleology
title_fullStr Moral Teleology
title_full_unstemmed Moral Teleology
title_short Moral Teleology
title_sort moral teleology
topic ambivalence;autonomy;benevolence;disagreement;functionalism;Hanno Sauer;metaethics;moral facts;moral knowledge;moral progress;moral psychology;moral regress;moral status;moral teleology;moral universalism;norms;practices;sociability;socially extended mind;well-being
topic_facet ambivalence;autonomy;benevolence;disagreement;functionalism;Hanno Sauer;metaethics;moral facts;moral knowledge;moral progress;moral psychology;moral regress;moral status;moral teleology;moral universalism;norms;practices;sociability;socially extended mind;well-being
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63220
work_keys_str_mv AT sauerhanno moralteleology