Materialist Ethics and Life-Value 9780773590953
A timely re-thinking of "the good life" that reveals its grounds in human life-requirements and identifies key
135 100 1MB
English Pages 256 [252] Year 2012
Table of contents :
Cover
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION Ethics and Materialist Philosophy
1 THE HISTORY OF MATERIALIST ETHICS: HEDONISM AND LIFE-REQUIREMENT SATISFACTION
2 MATERIALISM, NATURALISM, AND VALUE
3 MATERIALIST ETHICS AND LIFE-VALUES
PART ONE Materialism, Human Finitude, and Ethics
1 Materialism
1.1 INTRODUCTION: HISTORICAL OUTLINES OF MATERIALIST PHILOSOPHY
1.2 ETHICALLY RELEVANT MATERIALISM AND THE NATURAL UNIVERSE
1.3 MATERIALISM AND HUMAN SOCIETY
2 The Life-Ground of Value in Human Life-Requirements
2.1 LIFE, LIFE-REQUIREMENTS, AND THE LIFE-GROUND OF VALUE
2.2 ORGANIC LIFE-REQUIREMENTS
2.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS OF HUMAN LIFE
2.4 THE TEMPORAL REQUIREMENTS OF FREE HUMAN LIFE
PART TWO Life-Grounded Materialist Ethical Criticism
3 The Emergence of System-Requirements
3.1 SYSTEM-REQUIREMENTS, RULING VALUE SYSTEMS, AND THE COMMON LIFE-INTEREST
3.2 THE HISTORICAL EMERGENCE OF THE CONTRADICTION
3.3 THE PLACE OF HUMAN AGENCY IN THE REPRODUCTION OF CONTRADICTORY SOCIETIES
4 The Life-Blind Logic of Social Expansion
4.1 THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN RULING VALUE SYSTEMS AND LIFE-VALUE IN THE JUSTIFICATION OF COLONIAL DOMINATION
4.2 SHARED HUMANITY AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCE
5 The Instrumentalization of Life-Value: The Material Irrationality of Global Capitalism
5.1 THE CONFLATION OF LIFE-VALUE AND MONEY-VALUE IN CAPITALISM
5.2 LIFE-VALUE AS END IN ITSELF
5.3 THE INSTRUMENTALIZATION OF HUMAN LIFE-REQUIREMENTS AND CAPACITIES
PART THREE Life-Grounded Materialist Ethics and the Human Good
6 The Human Good as Free Life-Capacity Expression and Enjoyment
6.1 GOOD FOR SELF AND GOOD FOR WORLD
6.2 FREE CAPACITY REALIZATION AND THE GOOD FOR HUMAN BEINGS
6.3 LIFE-VALUE AND THE CAPABILITIES APPROACH TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
CONCLUSION Institutional and Political Implications
Bibliography
Index
