For an ontology of morals : a critique of contemporary ethical theory

For an Ontology of Morals: A Critique of Contemporary Ethical Theory assesses contemporary trends in ethical theory, including the deontological tradition dating back to Kant, the teleological tradition of the utilitarians, the analytic movement, and the existentialist-phenomenologist movement. In refuting these trends, Henry B. Veatch argues that moral and ethical distinctions cannot be rightly or adequately understood if they are regarded simply as matters of linguistic use but are grounded in the very being and nature of things. This book critiques contemporary trends in ethical theory, including the deontological tradition dating back to Kant, the teleological tradition of the utilitarians, the analytic movement, and the existentialist-phenomenologist movement. In refuting these trends, Veatch argues that moral and ethical distinctions cannot be rightly or adequately understood if they are regarded simply as matters of linguistic use but are grounded in the very being and nature of things FOREWORD ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Xlll I. Setting for a Structural History 3 II. Analytic Ethics: Earlier Stages in Its Structural History 19 III. Analytic Ethics: Later Stages in Its Structural History 37 IV. Existentialism: Relevant Features of Its Structural History 57 V. A Transcendental Turn in Ethics: A Possible Solution 85 VI. Some Proposals toward an Ontology of Morals 99 VII. Transition to an Epistemology of Morals 125 INDEX: 169