University of Chicago Press, 2011 eISBN: 978-0-226-30685-8 | Cloth: 978-0-226-30683-4 Library of Congress Classification BJ1401.I49 2011 Dewey Decimal Classification 170
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The recent spate of books and articles reflecting on the question of evil might make one forget that the question of just what constitutes goodness is no less urgent or perplexing. Everyone wants to think of him- or herself as good. But what does a good life look like? And how do people become good? Are there multiple, competing possibilities for what counts as a good life, all equally worthy? Or, is there a unified and transcendent conception of the good that should guide our judgment of the possibilities? What does a good life look like when it is guided by God? How is a good life involved with the lives of others? And, finally, how good is good enough?
These questions are the focus of In Search of Goodness, the product of a year-long conversation about goodness. The eight essays in this volume challenge the dichotomies that usually govern how goodness has been discussed in the past: altruism versus egoism; reason versus emotion; or moral choice versus moral character. Instead, the contributors seek to expand the terms of the discussion by coming at goodness from a variety of perspectives: psychological, philosophic, literary, religious, and political. In each case, they emphasize the lived realities and particulars of moral phenomena, taking up examples and illustrations from life, literature, and film. From Achilles and Billy Budd, to Oskar Schindler and Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, to Iris Murdoch and the citizens of Flagstaff, Arizona, readers will find a wealth of thought-provoking insights to help them better understand this most basic, but complex, element of human life and happiness.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Ruth W. Grant is professor of political science and philosophy and a senior fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. She is the editor of Naming Evil, Judging Evil, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
REVIEWS
“While one could hardly say that philosophers have given much attention to the place that the concept of evil has among our moral concepts, they have done so more in the last ten or so years than they had before. I have, therefore, often wondered why there has been so little discussion of goodness. In Search of Goodness is not only an exception: it is an admirable one. It is original and provocative, impressive both in its breadth and depth.”
— Raimond Gaita, author of Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception
“The subject of goodness has been remarkably resistant to innovation or fresh thinking. But this rich collection, in which each essay both takes up a different subject and adopts a distinctive approach, may succeed in putting goodness back on the agenda as a fertile field for scholarly inquiry and discussion. A renewed investigation of goodness as a fundamental component of human life would reinvigorate many fields in the humanities, and In Search of Goodness is beautifully constructed to serve precisely this purpose.”
— Geoffrey Galt Harpham, Director, National Humanities Center
“In Search of Goodness contains eight thought-provoking essays by scholars who discuss maturing in goodness, what goodness is good for, and goodness as a feature of a human life. With the skillful guidance of Ruth W. Grant, who organized and introduces the project, the authors avoid stereotypical ways of addressing these deceptively simple questions and draw on many different sources to shed light on them. The essays will help readers understand goodness much more fully; and they confirm the value of a ‘good conversation,’ among many other points.”
— Nannerl O. Keohane, Princeton University
“[An] impressive collection. . . . The book demonstrates that the good life is not a unitary ideal but a matter of how people perceive and make intelligible the significance of their experiences and human qualities. . . . [In Search of Goodness] is notable as an exemplar of interdisciplinary study, making it an excellent resource for accessing a topic whose nuances can quickly assume a vast and unwieldy quality. Recommended.”
— N. D. Zavediuk, Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Ruth W. Grant
Chapter One – The Nature and Nurture of Morality
Philip Costanzo
Chapter Two – “Generous to a Fault”: Moral Goodness and Psychic Health
Ruth W. Grant
Chapter Three – Are Moral Conversions Possible?
David B. Wong
Chapter Four – What Good Is Innocence?
J. Peter Euben
Chapter Five – God and Goodness: A Theological Exploration
StanleyHauerwas
Chapter Six – To Make This Emergence Articulate: The Beautiful, the Tragic Sublime, the Good, and the Shapes of Common Practice
Romand Coles
Chapter Sever – The Tragedy of the Goods and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Question of the Good and the Goods
Michael Allen Gillespie
Chapter Eight – The Goodness of Searching: Good as What? Good for What? Good for Whom?
Amelie Oksenberg Rorty
Contributors
Index of Names
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Chicago Press, 2011 eISBN: 978-0-226-30685-8 Cloth: 978-0-226-30683-4
The recent spate of books and articles reflecting on the question of evil might make one forget that the question of just what constitutes goodness is no less urgent or perplexing. Everyone wants to think of him- or herself as good. But what does a good life look like? And how do people become good? Are there multiple, competing possibilities for what counts as a good life, all equally worthy? Or, is there a unified and transcendent conception of the good that should guide our judgment of the possibilities? What does a good life look like when it is guided by God? How is a good life involved with the lives of others? And, finally, how good is good enough?
These questions are the focus of In Search of Goodness, the product of a year-long conversation about goodness. The eight essays in this volume challenge the dichotomies that usually govern how goodness has been discussed in the past: altruism versus egoism; reason versus emotion; or moral choice versus moral character. Instead, the contributors seek to expand the terms of the discussion by coming at goodness from a variety of perspectives: psychological, philosophic, literary, religious, and political. In each case, they emphasize the lived realities and particulars of moral phenomena, taking up examples and illustrations from life, literature, and film. From Achilles and Billy Budd, to Oskar Schindler and Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, to Iris Murdoch and the citizens of Flagstaff, Arizona, readers will find a wealth of thought-provoking insights to help them better understand this most basic, but complex, element of human life and happiness.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Ruth W. Grant is professor of political science and philosophy and a senior fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. She is the editor of Naming Evil, Judging Evil, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
REVIEWS
“While one could hardly say that philosophers have given much attention to the place that the concept of evil has among our moral concepts, they have done so more in the last ten or so years than they had before. I have, therefore, often wondered why there has been so little discussion of goodness. In Search of Goodness is not only an exception: it is an admirable one. It is original and provocative, impressive both in its breadth and depth.”
— Raimond Gaita, author of Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception
“The subject of goodness has been remarkably resistant to innovation or fresh thinking. But this rich collection, in which each essay both takes up a different subject and adopts a distinctive approach, may succeed in putting goodness back on the agenda as a fertile field for scholarly inquiry and discussion. A renewed investigation of goodness as a fundamental component of human life would reinvigorate many fields in the humanities, and In Search of Goodness is beautifully constructed to serve precisely this purpose.”
— Geoffrey Galt Harpham, Director, National Humanities Center
“In Search of Goodness contains eight thought-provoking essays by scholars who discuss maturing in goodness, what goodness is good for, and goodness as a feature of a human life. With the skillful guidance of Ruth W. Grant, who organized and introduces the project, the authors avoid stereotypical ways of addressing these deceptively simple questions and draw on many different sources to shed light on them. The essays will help readers understand goodness much more fully; and they confirm the value of a ‘good conversation,’ among many other points.”
— Nannerl O. Keohane, Princeton University
“[An] impressive collection. . . . The book demonstrates that the good life is not a unitary ideal but a matter of how people perceive and make intelligible the significance of their experiences and human qualities. . . . [In Search of Goodness] is notable as an exemplar of interdisciplinary study, making it an excellent resource for accessing a topic whose nuances can quickly assume a vast and unwieldy quality. Recommended.”
— N. D. Zavediuk, Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Ruth W. Grant
Chapter One – The Nature and Nurture of Morality
Philip Costanzo
Chapter Two – “Generous to a Fault”: Moral Goodness and Psychic Health
Ruth W. Grant
Chapter Three – Are Moral Conversions Possible?
David B. Wong
Chapter Four – What Good Is Innocence?
J. Peter Euben
Chapter Five – God and Goodness: A Theological Exploration
StanleyHauerwas
Chapter Six – To Make This Emergence Articulate: The Beautiful, the Tragic Sublime, the Good, and the Shapes of Common Practice
Romand Coles
Chapter Sever – The Tragedy of the Goods and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Question of the Good and the Goods
Michael Allen Gillespie
Chapter Eight – The Goodness of Searching: Good as What? Good for What? Good for Whom?
Amelie Oksenberg Rorty
Contributors
Index of Names
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE