Oxford University Press, USA
Hard Questions: Facing the Problems of Life
Hard Questions: Facing the Problems of Life
Regular price
€42,95 EUR
Regular price
Sale price
€42,95 EUR
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
In this book, John Kekes discusses the hard questions we all must face in the course of our lives. Is there an absolute value that overrides all other considerations? Must we conform to prevailing conventions? Do we owe what our country asks of us? Must justice be done at all costs? How should
we respond to evil? Should we forgive wrong actions? Does shame make life better or worse? Is it always good to be true to who we are? Do good intentions justify bad actions? Are moral values the highest of all values? There are reasonable answers to these questions, but we find that they often
conflict. Their conflicts compel us to weigh the consequences of how the decisions we make affect ourselves, our relationships, and our attitude to the society in which we live. In this clearly and accessibly written book, Kekes compares and evaluates the reasons that have been given for and against answers to these hard questions by those who actually faced them. By learning from the successes and failures of the decisions others have made, we can understand better how we
should respond to the hard questions we ourselves face. We can then evaluate more reasonably the possibilities open to us and the limitations to which we are subject. This approach is an alternative to both the absolutist and the relativist ways of trying to answer hard questions. Absolutists have, for millennia, fruitlessly searched for an authoritative answer that reason requires everyone to accept. Their failure have led relativists to assume that there comes
a point at which we run out of reasons and have no option but to make an arbitrary decision. Kekes instead offers a message of hope by showing that there are reasonable answers to hard questions, which are neither absolute, nor arbitrary.
Author: John Kekes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/12/2019
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190919986
Review Citation(s):
Choice 12/01/2019
we respond to evil? Should we forgive wrong actions? Does shame make life better or worse? Is it always good to be true to who we are? Do good intentions justify bad actions? Are moral values the highest of all values? There are reasonable answers to these questions, but we find that they often
conflict. Their conflicts compel us to weigh the consequences of how the decisions we make affect ourselves, our relationships, and our attitude to the society in which we live. In this clearly and accessibly written book, Kekes compares and evaluates the reasons that have been given for and against answers to these hard questions by those who actually faced them. By learning from the successes and failures of the decisions others have made, we can understand better how we
should respond to the hard questions we ourselves face. We can then evaluate more reasonably the possibilities open to us and the limitations to which we are subject. This approach is an alternative to both the absolutist and the relativist ways of trying to answer hard questions. Absolutists have, for millennia, fruitlessly searched for an authoritative answer that reason requires everyone to accept. Their failure have led relativists to assume that there comes
a point at which we run out of reasons and have no option but to make an arbitrary decision. Kekes instead offers a message of hope by showing that there are reasonable answers to hard questions, which are neither absolute, nor arbitrary.
Author: John Kekes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/12/2019
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190919986
Review Citation(s):
Choice 12/01/2019
About the Author
John Kekes is the author of many books, including The Roots of Evil (Cornell University Press), Enjoyment (OUP), The Human Condition (OUP), and How Should We Live? (Chicago University Press). He has been visiting professor in Canada, England, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Singapore, and the United
States Military Academy.
