Choosing Freedom

A Kantian Guide to Life

Karen Stohr (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

344 Seiten

2024
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-779722-8 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

An exploration of everything Kant's philosophy can teach us about being the best people we can be, from using our human reasoning to its fullest potential to being affably drunk at dinner parties.

Immanuel Kant is well known as one of the towering figures of Western philosophical history, but he is less well known for his savvy advice about hosting dinner parties. This philosophical genius was a man of many interests and talents: his famously formal and abstract ethical system is only part of his story. But Kant not only made a profound impact on how people think about big questions like how to treat one another -- he also offered wise insights on things people confront in everyday life: things like gossip, friendship, manners, self-respect, cheerfulness, gratitude, mockery, contempt, and yes, dinner parties. In this book, philosopher Karen Stohr shows how Kant's whole ethical picture fits together. It's a picture that is as relevant and useful now as it was in the 18th century--and maybe even more so.

A Kantian way of living means using reason to guide your choices so that your life reflects your true nature as a free, rational being. This nature is one we share with others; Kantianism emphasizes the fundamental dignity and equality of each person. It presents an ideal for how we should live together without downplaying the challenges we face in the actual world. Though realistic about human weaknesses, Kant remained optimistic about our capacities and possibilities. He had great faith in the ability of human reason to point us in the direction of moral progress and to get us there. Each of us has the power within us to know and choose the right path--we just have to be willing to make that choice, and to discover how worthwhile life can be in the process.

Karen Stohr is the Ryan Family Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Georgetown University, where she is also a Senior Research Scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. She publishes in the areas of Kantian ethics, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and contemporary ethical theory, focusing especially the relationship between moral norms and social norms. Her previous books include On Manners (Routledge, 2011) and Minding the Gap: Moral Ideals and Moral Improvement (Oxford University Press, 2019). Her articles have appeared The New York Times and the Houston Chronicle, and she writes an ethics column for the Washingtonian. She has been interviewed on NPR and Philosophy Talk.

Series Editor's Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments

Part 1: Kantian Basics
1. Getting to Know Kant
2. Freedom
3. Human Nature
4. Moral Commitment
5. The Categorical Imperative: Equality
6. The Categorical Imperative: Dignity
7. The Categorical Imperative: Community
8. Love and Respect
9. Kantian Duties

Part II: Moral Assessment
10. Knowing Ourselves
11. Judging Ourselves
12. Judging Others

Part III: Vices 13. Servility: Acting Like a Doormat
14. Arrogance: Being Full of Ourselves
15. Contempt: Looking Down on People
16. Defamation: Spreading Gossip
17. Mockery: Making Fun of Others
18. Deceitfulness: Bending the Truth
19. Drunkenness: Losing Our Grip on Reason

Part IV: Life Goals
20. Personal Development: Making Something of Ourselves
21. Stoic Cheerfulness: Learning to Grin and Bear It
22. Judicious Reserve: Knowing When to Shut Up
23. Useful Beneficence: Lending a Genuinely Helpful Hand
24. Heartfelt Gratitude: Acknowledging Our Debts

Part V: Socializing
25. Friends and Frenemies
26. A Kantian Love Life
27. Good Manners
28. Dinner Parties without Drama

Part VI: Looking Forward
29. Staying Hopeful
30. Kant as a Guide to Life

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	19.09.2024
Reihe/Serie	Guides to the Good Life
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	130 x 178 mm
Gewicht	304 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Ethik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
ISBN-10	0-19-779722-9 / 0197797229
ISBN-13	978-0-19-779722-8 / 9780197797228
Zustand	Neuware