Rethinking the Good

Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning

Larry S. Temkin

Oxford Ethics Series

Develops an original and systematic argument, which will make a significant contribution to the field
The culmination of thirty years of Temkin's work on this topic
Challenges widely held, cherished beliefs about the nature of the good and practical rationality

Rethinking the Good

Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning

Larry S. Temkin

Description

In choosing between moral alternatives — choosing between various forms of ethical action — we typically make calculations of the following kind: A is better than B; B is better than C; therefore A is better than C. These inferences use the principle of transitivity and are fundamental to many forms of practical and theoretical theorizing, not just in moral and ethical theory but in economics. Indeed they are so common as to be almost invisible. What Larry Temkin's book shows is that, shockingly, if we want to continue making plausible judgments, we cannot continue to make these assumptions.

Temkin shows that we are committed to various moral ideals that are, surprisingly, fundamentally incompatible with the idea that "better than" can be transitive. His book develops many examples where value judgments that we accept and find attractive, are incompatible with transitivity. While this might seem to leave two options — reject transitivity, or reject some of our normative commitments in order to keep it — Temkin is neutral on which path to follow, only making the case that a choice is necessary, and that the cost either way will be high. Temkin's book is a very original and deeply unsettling work of skeptical philosophy that mounts an important new challenge to contemporary ethics.

Rethinking the Good

Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning

Larry S. Temkin

Oxford Ethics Series

1. Introduction
2. Aggregation and Problems about Trade-offs: Many-Person Spectrum
3. A "New" Principle of Aggregation
4. On the Separateness of Individuals, Compensation, and Aggregation
5. Aggregation and Problems about Trade-offs Within Lives: Single- Person Spectrum Arguments
6. Another Spectrum Argument: From Infant to Fertilized Ovum
7. Exploring Transitivity: Part I
8. Exploring Transitivity: Part II
9. Expected Utility Theory/Expected Value Theory
10. Spectrum Arguments: Objections and Replies
11. On the Value of Utility and Two Models for Combining Ideals
12. On the Nature of Moral Ideals, Part I
13. On the Nature of Moral Ideals, Part II
14. Juggling to Preserve Transitivity
15. Conclusion
Appendices
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Rethinking the Good

Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning

Larry S. Temkin

Oxford Ethics Series

Author Information

Larry S. Temkin

Larry S. Temkin is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Philosophy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Rethinking the Good

Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning

Larry S. Temkin

Oxford Ethics Series

Reviews and Awards

"Rethinking the Good threatens to overturn some of our most deeply entrenched beliefs about our various values and practical reasoning.... [It is] an utterly original work of philosophy, almost breath-takingly so." - Shelly Kagan, Yale University

"Rethinking the Good is a genuinely awe-inspiring achievement. Its discussions of a broad range of the deepest and most perplexing issues in normative ethics are unsurpassed in imaginativeness, subtlety, and rigor...Temkin's rich and brilliant book will transform our understanding of many of the most important problems in ethical theory." - Jeff McMahan, Oxford University

"This book is about some of the most profound issues in human life... its challenging and sophisticated arguments will be sources of insight and inspiration for anyone who reflects on them." - Roger Crisp, Oxford University

"Larry Temkin's magnum opus, Rethinking the Good... is unquestionably one of the grandest, most significant, and most profound works on value and practical reasoning ever written." - Jake Ross, The Journal of Moral Philosophy

"The most important work in choice theory and social choice in some time." - Tyler Cowen, MARGINALREVOLUTION

"Rethinking the Good is the most powerful challenge to our understanding of axiology and normative theory in contemporary philosophy to date. Calling it a classic or a masterpiece is an understatement: it is a true milestone with which we enter a new stage in the study of value theory." - Oscar Horta, Law, Ethics, and Philosophy

"...a rich and challenging work, and a profound contribution." - Richard Kraut, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"A real tour de force..." - Véronique Munoz-Dardé, The Journal of Moral Philosophy

"Larry Temkin's monumental book Rethinking the Good is by far the most resourceful and penetrating investigation into the various aspects of the value of outcomes to date." - Ingmar Persson, Law, Ethics, and Philosophy

"...[A] great work of philosophy....both groundshaking and crafted with near-perfect precision...one of the most important works in ethics to appear in recent decades, sure to be studied closely by philosophers and non-philosophers alike for decades to come...[a] brilliant and exciting book." - Melinda Roberts, Analysis