By the author of the highly successful paperback Locke, Berkeley, Hume: Central Themes (OUP, 1971)
The Act Itself offers a deeper understanding of what is going on in our own moral thoughts about human behaviour. Many of the descriptions of behaviour on which our moral thoughts are based are confused; others may be free of confusion, but still we are not clear in our minds about what thoughts they are. That it would hurt her, it would be disloyal, it wouldn't be done with that intention, it would be dangerous, it would involve allowing harm but not producing it - thoughts like these support our moral judgements and thus guide our lives. In so far as we do not deeply understand them, this is a kind of servitude. As Locke said, 'He is the most enslaved who is so in his understanding.' This book presents conceptual analysis as a means to getting more control of our thoughts and thus of our lives.
Review quote:
This book is the result of thirty years of hard thinking by an acute moral philosopher on the foundations of our morality. (Times Literary Supplement)
This is first-rate work, required reading for anyone interested in moral theory and (I should think) in the theory of action. (Judith Jarvis Thompson Nous)
In this major new book, the internationally renowned Professor Jonathan Bennett offers a deeper understanding of what is going on in our own moral thoughts about human behaviour. The Act Itself presents a conceptual analysis of descriptions of behaviour on which we base our moral judgements, and shows that this analysis can be used as a means to getting more control of our thoughts and thus of our lives.
The Act Itself offers a deeper understanding of what is going on in our own moral thoughts about human behaviour. Many of the descriptions of behaviour on which our moral thoughts are based are confused; others may be free of confusion, but still we are not clear in our minds about what thoughts they are. That it would hurt her, it would be disloyal, it wouldn't be done with that intention, it would be dangerous, it would involve allowing harm but not producing it - thoughts like these support our moral judgements and thus guide our lives. In so far as we do not deeply understand them, this is a kind of servitude. As Locke said, 'He is the most enslaved who is so in his understanding.' This book presents conceptual analysis as a means to getting more control of our thoughts and thus of our lives.
Review quote:
This book is the result of thirty years of hard thinking by an acute moral philosopher on the foundations of our morality. (Times Literary Supplement)
This is first-rate work, required reading for anyone interested in moral theory and (I should think) in the theory of action. (Judith Jarvis Thompson Nous)
In this major new book, the internationally renowned Professor Jonathan Bennett offers a deeper understanding of what is going on in our own moral thoughts about human behaviour. The Act Itself presents a conceptual analysis of descriptions of behaviour on which we base our moral judgements, and shows that this analysis can be used as a means to getting more control of our thoughts and thus of our lives.