The Foundations of Moral Theory

Dissertation, Brown University (1989)
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Abstract

As humans lack the degree of biological specialization of other species, they have a freedom of choice which constitutes the basic foundation of morality. Unsatisfactory conceptions of this freedom are the Judaeo-Christian view which only emphasizes the possibility of sin and thus seeks to restrict this freedom; and the Sartrean view which sees it as being so absolute that no justification can be given for any choice over another. Rather, the freedom is a freedom of humans to complete themselves and in this sense our true freedom is an achievement to be attained by making the rational choices appropriate to our potentials. ;The intellectual trends of the modern age either seek to undermine our capacity for rationality, or else argue that rational systems are merely relative to the assumptions on which they are built, and that no rational choice can be made between these differing assumptions. Rather, it is the real world that imposes constraints which define universal and necessary criteria for rationality, and this enables a rational choice to be made between assumptions. An analysis of the history of Western thought reveals that moral theories are built on two basic assumptions. Human nature nature is seen as being basically sinful, malleable or developmental, and it is seen as rational or not. These possibilites thus give rise to six possible types of moral theory. ;Historically, the most important of these is the Judaeo-Christian view of man sinful and lacking the capacity for rationality. This gives rise to a conception of morality which views it in in terms of obedience to rules, however, such a conception undermines the very freedom which is the basis for morality. It is only an optimistic view of human nature which allows for the development of our potentials in general, and our rationality in particular. In turn, it is the development of our rationality which enables us to understand that only one of the six possibilites provides an adequate basis for morality. Historically the best example of this is to be found in Aristotle

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