Practical Philosophy: Ethics, Society and Culture

by John Haldane

In this wide ranging volume of philosophical essays John Haldane explores some central areas of social life and issues of intense academic and public debate. These include the question of ethical relativism, fundamental issues in bioethics, the nature of individuals in relation to society, the common good, public judgement of prominent individuals, the nature and aims of education, cultural theory and the relation of philosophy to art and architecture. John Haldane is Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs in the University of St Andrews. He is also a former Royden Davis Professor of Humanities at Georgetown University and is currently a Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, Princeton. As well as being a prominent academic philosopher he is well known in Britain, in North America and elsewhere in the English-speaking world as a public intellectual and social commentator. 'In Practical Philosophy, John Haldane eloquently makes the case for an approach to ethics that is distinctively practical ― thought with a view to action (as contrasted with theoretical thought that might possibly be applied to the domain of action). Taking his inspiration from a tradition that includes Aristotle, Aquinas, and Elizabeth Anscombe, Haldane argues that an orthodox dichotomy has long dominated both philosophical and everyday we must be either dualists or material reductionists. Both of these alternatives, however, neglect a subtle approach to intentionality and agency offered by the Aristotelian tradition. Haldane uses his illuminating approach to advance arguments on a number of controversial moral and political the status of the foetus, the importance of the family, compensation for victims of crime, the basis of human solidarity across national boundaries. Although his conclusions are frequently controversial, Haldane always avoids polemics and the ideological parti pris, thus giving a welcome example of respectful and civil public argument.' ― Martha Nussbaum 'What resources can philosophy bring to bear, when its enquiries are not theoretical, but practical? In Practical Philosophy John Haldane answers this question in a brilliant survey of key issues, showing us how a variety of theories can obscure or distort our view of the practical realities of life, family, and society. With admirable clarity he also shows us how philosophy can rescue us from such theorizing.' ― Alasdair MacIntyre

Genres: Philosophy

400 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

John Joseph Haldane KHS FRSE FRSA (born 19 February 1954) is a Scottish philosopher, commentator and broadcaster. He is a papal adviser to the Vatican. He is credited with coining the term Analytical Thomism and is himself a Thomist in the analytic tradition. Haldane is associated with The Veritas Forum and is the current chairman of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

He has been a visiting lecturer in the School of Architecture of the University of Westminster, at the Medical School of the University of Dundee, at the University of Malta, at the Thomistic Institute at the University of Notre Dame, at the University of Aberdeen, at Denison University, at the University of St. Thomas, at The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, and the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. He held the Royden Davis Chair of Humanities at Georgetown University, and delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen in 2003-04, and the Joseph Lectures at the Gregorian University in Rome.

He was appointed to the University of St Andrews in 1983 where he has held a lectureship, a readership and as of 1994 is University Professor in Philosophy. From 1988 to 2000 and from 2002 to the present he has been Director of the University Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs. In addition, he has held fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Edinburgh, St John's College, Oxford, Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University and at the Centre for the Study of Sculpture in Leeds, England. Starting in autumn 2015, he holds the J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Distinguished Chair in Philosophy at Baylor University.

Reviews

[Ben Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Need to re-read to fully consider the extent of my agreement/disagreement in various areas. But Haldane writes with great clarity and honesty.