Torture has recently been the subject of some sensational headlines. As a result, there has been a huge surge in interest in the ethical implications of this contentious issue.
"The Ethics of Torture" offers the first complete introduction to the philosophical debates surrounding torture. The book asks key questions in light of recent events such as the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib. What makes torture morally reprehensible? Are there any conditions under which torture is acceptable? What is it like to be tortured, and why do people engage in torture?
The authors argue that the force of the most common arguments for torture (like the ticking-bomb argument) are significantly overestimated, while the wrongness of torture has been significantly underestimated--even by those who argue against it.
This is the ideal introduction to the ethics of torture for students of moral philosophy or political theory. It also constitutes a significant contribution to the torture debate in its own right, presenting a unique approach to investigating this dark practice.

While commentators have sometimes taken up the question of Wittgenstein's view of ethics, none has offered a sustained treatment of what positive contributions Wittgenstein has yet to offer contemporary ethics. In this important new book, Jeremy Wisnewski argues that Wittgenstein, though himself often silent on particular ethical matters, gives us immense resources for understanding the aims appropriate to any philosophical ethics. Using Wittgenstein as a point of departure, Wisnewski re-examines some of the landmarks in the history of moral philosophy in order to cast contemporary ethical philosophy in a new light. Of particular interest is the unique approach to Kant's moral philosophy afforded by seeing him through Wittgensteinian eyes: Wisnewski gives distinct and intriguing analyses of the categorical imperative, arguing that our obsession with a certain brand of ethical theory has led us to misread this most famous contribution to moral philosophy. By seeing the doctrines of historical ethical philosophers anew (particularly those of Kant and Mill), Wisnewski shows a new way of engaging in ethical theory - one that is Wittgensteinian through and through. Rather than assuming that ethical inquiry yields knowledge about what we must do, and what rules we must follow, we should regard ethics (including our historical ethical theories) as clarifying what is involved in the complicated 'form of life' that is ours.

This book explores the moral place of the dead in our lives and in our afterlives. It argues that our lives are saturated by the past intentions and values of the dead, and that we offer the dead a form of modest immortality by fulfilling our obligations to remember them.

Debates about individualism and holism, reductionism and phenomenology, and naturalism and humanism all turn on how we answer the basic questions about the nature of human agency. This book argues that the traditional emphasis on the accuracy of a given theory of human agency has systematically obscured the normative dimension in these theories and that recognizing this normative dimension allows us to see that a pragmatic approach to theories of agency, either in social science or moral philosophy, is more appropriate. As well as offering a vigorous presentation of the pragmatic-therapeutic account of agency Wisnewski also engages critically with three rival accounts from Nietzsche, Foucault and Rorty.

Debates about individualism and holism, reductionism and phenomenology, and naturalism and humanism all turn on how we answer the basic questions about the nature of human agency. This book argues that the traditional emphasis on the accuracy of a given theory of human agency has systematically obscured the normative dimension in these theories and that recognizing this normative dimension allows us to see that a pragmatic approach to theories of agency, either in social science or moral philosophy, is more appropriate. As well as offering a vigorous presentation of the pragmatic-therapeutic account of agency Wisnewski also engages critically with three rival accounts from Nietzsche, Foucault and Rorty.

This is the first student-friendly introduction to the philosophical issues surrounding torture. It is a timely and useful contribution to a highly topical and on-going debate. Torture has recently been the subject of some sensational headlines. As a result, there has been a huge surge in interest in the ethical implications of this contentious issue."The Ethics of Torture" offers the first complete introduction to the philosophical debates surrounding torture. The book asks key questions in light of recent events such as the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib. What makes torture morally reprehensible? Are there any conditions under which torture is acceptable? What is it like to be tortured, and why do people engage in torture? The authors argue that the force of the most common arguments for torture (like the ticking-bomb argument) are significantly overestimated, while the wrongness of torture has been significantly underestimated - even by those who argue against it.This is the ideal introduction to the ethics of torture for students of moral philosophy or political theory. It also constitutes a significant contribution to the torture debate in its own right, presenting a unique approach to investigating this dark practice.

Traditional philosophizing has generally depended upon logic or reason as its primary or sole access to truth. Subjective experiences such as feelings, the passions, and emotions have typically been viewed as secondary, untrustworthy, or both. They have, at best, been seen as accompanying reason, at worse, as clouding our judgments and misleading reason, thus often becoming unworthy of any significant role or consideration within traditional philosophical research. The Religious Existentialists and the Redemption of Feeling revisits how the movement of existentialism, specifically, the religious existentialists, has contributed to rethinking the role of subjective experience for philosophical enterprise as a whole, in contrast to the rationalist and idealist traditions. This rethinking of subjective experience is what the book characterizes as the redemption of feeling. Expanding our understanding of philosophical thought to include these subjective experiences opens the door for the possibility of a mode of philosophizing that views human experience as philosophically relevant, thus reframing the importance of feelings in general for philosophical inquiry. Through their considerations of a variety of thinkers, the contributors to this collection provide a fresh look at the contributions of twentieth-century existentialists, a rethinking of the very notion of existentialism, and a genuine exploration of the significance of subjectivity.

This concise and accessible textbook examines German philosopher Martin Heidegger's entire body of work through the lens of his first and best-known book, Being and Time. An influential, twentieth-century scholar, Heidegger is often studied by opposing his early and later works. This insightful, new text guides students through Heidegger's ideas without shying away from controversial issues and debates within the scholarship. By unifying Being and Time with the rest of Heidegger's work, this book addresses the evolution of his thought across his lifetime. The text features a glossary of Greek, Latin, and English terms and a guide for reading the book in conjunction with Heidegger's writings.

This concise and accessible textbook examines German philosopher Martin Heidegger's entire body of work through the lens of his first and best-known book, Being and Time. An influential, twentieth-century scholar, Heidegger is often studied by opposing his early and later works. This insightful, new text guides students through Heidegger's ideas without shying away from controversial issues and debates within the scholarship. By unifying Being and Time with the rest of Heidegger's work, this book addresses the evolution of his thought across his lifetime. The text features a glossary of Greek, Latin, and English terms and a guide for reading the book in conjunction with Heidegger's writings.

Ethics and Phenomenology is a collection of essays that explore the relationship between moral philosophy and the phenomenological tradition. Phenomenology is a vast and rich philosophical tradition which seeks to explain how we perceive the world. This, in turn, involves questions about one s relationship to the world and how one both acts and should act in the world. For this reason phenomenology entails an ethics, even if such an ethics is not always apparent in the work of phenomenological thinkers . The book is devoted to two central tasks: Section One offers essays exploring the resources available to moral philosophy in the work of the major phenomenologists of the 20th-century, including Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and others. Part Two consists of essays demonstrating the way that the phenomenological method can facilitate advances in our thinking through the exploration of contemporary ethical issues, including environmentalism, intellectual property, parenting and others.

Despite Victor Hugo's proclamation (in the 19th-century) that torture no longer exists, we find it in virtually every corner of the world - even now, even in those nations that claim to be paradigms of civility. In this important new book, J. Jeremy Wisnewski examines and explains the moral dimensions of this perennial practice, paying careful attention to what lessons torture can teach us about our own moral psychology. Why is it that torture still exists in a world where it is routinely regarded as immoral? Is it possible to eliminate torture, and if so, how? What exactly does it mean to call something 'torture,' and is it always morally reprehensible? Arguments in favour of torture abound, but Wisnewski contends that there are powerful arguments for a universal prohibition against torture. By systematically exposing the weaknesses of the dominant arguments for torture, drawing on resources in both analytic and continental philosophy, as well as relevant empirical literature in psychology, Wisnewski aims to provide an over-arching account of torture: what it is, why it's wrong, and why even the most civilized people can nevertheless engage in it.

Despite Victor Hugo's proclamation (in the 19th-century) that torture no longer exists, we find it in virtually every corner of the world - even now, even in those nations that claim to be paradigms of civility. In this important new book, J. Jeremy Wisnewski examines and explains the moral dimensions of this perennial practice, paying careful attention to what lessons torture can teach us about our own moral psychology. Why is it that torture still exists in a world where it is routinely regarded as immoral? Is it possible to eliminate torture, and if so, how? What exactly does it mean to call something 'torture,' and is it always morally reprehensible? Arguments in favour of torture abound, but Wisnewski contends that there are powerful arguments for a universal prohibition against torture. By systematically exposing the weaknesses of the dominant arguments for torture, drawing on resources in both analytic and continental philosophy, as well as relevant empirical literature in psychology, Wisnewski aims to provide an over-arching account of torture: what it is, why it's wrong, and why even the most civilized people can nevertheless engage in it.

This journal has been discontinued. Any issues are available to purchase separately.

This journal has been discontinued. Any issues are available to purchase separately.