Problems of Space and Time [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1968] Smart, J.J.C. editor

Problems of Space and Time

Smart, J.J.C.

Macmillan Pub. Co.

Ethics, Persuasion and Truth (Routledge Library Editions: Ethics)

Originally published in 1984, deals with meta-ethics - that is the semantics and pragmatics of ethical language. This book eschews the notions of meaning and analyticity on which meta-ethics normally depends. It discusses questions of free will and responsibility and the relations between ethics on the one hand and science and metaphysics on the other. The author regards ethics as concerned with deciding what to do and with persuading others - not with exploring a supposed realm of ethical fact.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Routledge

Originally published in 1984, deals with meta-ethics – that is the semantics and pragmatics of ethical language. This book eschews the notions of meaning and analyticity on which meta-ethics normally depends. It discusses questions of free will and responsibility and the relations between ethics on the one hand and science and metaphysics on the other. The author regards ethics as concerned with deciding what to do and with persuading others – not with exploring a supposed realm of ethical fact.

Philosophy and Scientific Realism

Originally published in 1963. In an introductory chapter the author argues that philosophy ought to be more than the art of clarifying thought and that it should concern itself with outlining a scientifically plausible world view. Early chapters deal with phenomenalism and the reality of theoretical entities, and with the relation between the physical and biological sciences. Free will, issues of time and space and man’s place in nature are covered in later chapters.

Reference

Originally published in 1963. In an introductory chapter the author argues that philosophy ought to be more than the art of clarifying thought and that it should concern itself with outlining a scientifically plausible world view. Early chapters deal with phenomenalism and the reality of theoretical entities, and with the relation between the physical and biological sciences. Free will, issues of time and space and man’s place in nature are covered in later chapters.

Utilitarianism: For and Against

Two essays on utilitarianism, written from opposite points of view, by J. J. C. Smart and Bernard Williams. In the first part of the book Professor Smart advocates a modern and sophisticated version of classical utilitarianism; he tries to formulate a consistent and persuasive elaboration of the doctrine that the rightness and wrongness of actions is determined solely by their consequences, and in particular their consequences for the sum total of human happiness. This is a revised version of Professor Smart's famous essay 'an outline of a system of utilitarian ethics', first published in 1961 but long unobtainable. In Part II Bernard Williams offers a sustained and vigorous critique of utilitarian assumptions, arguments and ideals. He finds inadequate the theory of action implied by utilitarianism, and he argues that utilitarianism fails to engage at a serious level with the real problems of moral and political philosophy, and fails to make sense of notions such as integrity, or even human happiness itself. Both authors are agreed on utilitarianism's importance: it cuts across a number of different philosophical disputes and combines a systematic account of mata-ethical problems with a distinctive and substantive moral stand. It thus is, or involves, philosophy in both the traditional and the narrower, professional sense of the word, and is a key topic (often the first topic) in introductory philosophy courses. This book should also be of interest to welfare economists, political scientists and decision-theorists.

Williams, Bernard

Cambridge University Press

Two essays on utilitarianism, written from opposite points of view, by J. J. C. Smart and Bernard Williams. In the first part of the book Professor Smart advocates a modern and sophisticated version of classical utilitarianism; he tries to formulate a consistent and persuasive elaboration of the doctrine that the rightness and wrongness of actions is determined solely by their consequences, and in particular their consequences for the sum total of human happiness. In Part II Bernard Williams offers a sustained and vigorous critique of utilitarian assumptions, arguments and ideals. He finds inadequate the theory of action implied by utilitarianism, and he argues that utilitarianism fails to engage at a serious level with the real problems of moral and political philosophy, and fails to make sense of notions such as integrity, or even human happiness itself. This book should be of interest to welfare economists, political scientists and decision-theorists.

Essays Metaphysical and Moral: Selected Philosophical Papers

Blackwell Pub.

What is our place in the universe? This question, central to metaphysics, has been a perennial source of debate among philosophers. Jack Smart approaches the problem, examining the question according to three of the senses in which it can be taken. First, literally in terms of astronomy. Secondly, quasi-literally in terms of the "great chain of being" and thirdly, metaphorically in terms of the material and the spiritual. His conclusion is that, in all three senses, our place in the universe is a modest one. Based on the author's Gavin David Young Lectures at the University of Adelaide in 1987, this investigation of a crucial metaphysical question is also designed to be a readable introduction to the further philosophical problems of space and time or space-time, free-will, fatalism, predestination, idealism and the theoretical entities of biology, physics and psychology.

Our Place in the Universe: A Metaphysical Discussion

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Books by Smart, J.J.C.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smart, J.J.C.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Problems of Space and Time

Ethics, Persuasion and Truth (Routledge Library Editions: Ethics)

Ethics, Persuasion and Truth (Routledge Library Editions: Ethics)

Philosophy and Scientific Realism

Philosophy and Scientific Realism

Utilitarianism: For and Against

Utilitarianism: For and Against

Utilitarianism: For and Against

Essays Metaphysical and Moral: Selected Philosophical Papers

Our Place in the Universe: A Metaphysical Discussion