authors:
- Johnson, Mark
content: 'Mark Johnson argues that moral deliberation is a form of problem-solving,
  in which possible courses of action are imagined and evaluated using all information
  we currently have available to us. It is not a matter of applying pre-existing moral
  axioms - either god-given or rationally derived à la Kant - but rather a creative
  exercise in inventing new solutions to new problems. He calls this approach ethical
  naturalism. Johnson relies heavily in John Dewey and argues against Immanuel Kant,
  whose ethics he considers to be actually very similar to the religious fundamentalist''s
  idea of morals as given by a commanding god, but minus the god. He says that in
  the same way that Kant tried to de-theologize Judeo-Christian ethics, so Rawls tries
  to de-transcendentalize Kant, removing Kant''s claims of absolute foundations in
  pure practical reason, while keeping most of the rest of Kant''s moral vision. He
  defends Dewey''s idea of the "qualitative unity of the situation", but I fail to
  see what that position actually does. It seems to me that this particular line of
  argument makes the theory more prone to relativism than it needs to be.


  Basically, Johnson considers the quest for ethical certainty in a small set of moral
  axioms to be fundamentally mistaken. Moral problem-solving is an empirical inquiry.
  He maintains that this does not lead inevitably to relativism. Criticism of moral
  ideals is possible, and we are not prisoners of our inherited moral frameworks.
  Progress is possible. In my mind, his approach fits very well with the evolutionary
  wave of thinking that is currently under way in the science and philosophy of human
  nature. Although he does not refer to Karl Popper or Michael Tomasello, I think
  there are clear points of contact in the approach.


  I can recommend this text. It is well written, clear and forceful. Its provokative
  ideas made me think about ethics in a new way.'
date: '2019-09-13'
edition:
  published: '2014'
  publisher: University of Chicago Press
goodreads: '18148398'
html: '<p>Mark Johnson argues that moral deliberation is a form of problem-solving,
  in which possible courses of action are imagined and evaluated using all information
  we currently have available to us. It is not a matter of applying pre-existing moral
  axioms - either god-given or rationally derived à la Kant - but rather a creative
  exercise in inventing new solutions to new problems. He calls this approach ethical
  naturalism. Johnson relies heavily in John Dewey and argues against Immanuel Kant,
  whose ethics he considers to be actually very similar to the religious fundamentalist''s
  idea of morals as given by a commanding god, but minus the god. He says that in
  the same way that Kant tried to de-theologize Judeo-Christian ethics, so Rawls tries
  to de-transcendentalize Kant, removing Kant''s claims of absolute foundations in
  pure practical reason, while keeping most of the rest of Kant''s moral vision. He
  defends Dewey''s idea of the &quot;qualitative unity of the situation&quot;, but
  I fail to see what that position actually does. It seems to me that this particular
  line of argument makes the theory more prone to relativism than it needs to be.</p>

  <p>Basically, Johnson considers the quest for ethical certainty in a small set of
  moral axioms to be fundamentally mistaken. Moral problem-solving is an empirical
  inquiry. He maintains that this does not lead inevitably to relativism. Criticism
  of moral ideals is possible, and we are not prisoners of our inherited moral frameworks.
  Progress is possible. In my mind, his approach fits very well with the evolutionary
  wave of thinking that is currently under way in the science and philosophy of human
  nature. Although he does not refer to Karl Popper or Michael Tomasello, I think
  there are clear points of contact in the approach.</p>

  <p>I can recommend this text. It is well written, clear and forceful. Its provokative
  ideas made me think about ethics in a new way.</p>

  '
isbn: '9780226113401'
language: en
lastmod: '2019-09-13'
path: /library/johnson-2014.html
published: '2014'
rating: 4
reference: Johnson 2014
reviewed: '2019-09-13'
subjects:
- human-evolution
- morality
- political-philosophy
- science
title: 'Morality for Humans: Ethical Understanding from the Perspective of Cognitive
  Science'
type: book
year: 2014