Robert Hartman And Brand Blanshard On Reason, Moral Relativism, And Intrinsic Goodness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67945/jfa.v15i.181Keywords:
Brand Blanshard, moral relativism, intrinsic goodness, rationalism, comparative philosophyAbstract
This article explains that and how Robert S. Hartman and Brand Blanshard, two of the most insightful philosophers of the 20th Century, were complete rationalists in their approach to philosophical problems, especially those in value theory. They both rejected emotive, subjectivist, and relativistic approaches to ethical values. Both were convinced that “intrinsic goodness” is the most important, meaningful, and basic of all ethical or moral concepts. Just how they understood reasonableness and the task of philosophers is explored. Significant differences between the two on the meaning of “good” are examined. Blanshard’s equating of “intrinsically good” with “fulfillment and pleasure” is critiqued, and Hartman’s alternative to this is presented and defended.References
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64 Schilpp, ed., The Philosophy of Brand Blanshard, 167.
65 Ibid., 373.
66 G. E. Moore, Principia Ethica, Cambridge: The University Press, 1959, 90. First published in 1903.
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Paul Arthur Schilpp, ed., The Philosophy of Brand Blanshard, LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1980.
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