Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics

by Patrick Lee, Robert P. George

This book treats the question of what a human person is and the ethical and political controversies of abortion, hedonism and drug-taking, euthanasia, and sex ethics. It defends the position that human beings are both body and soul, with a fundamental and morally important difference from other animals. It defends the traditional position on the most controversial specific moral and political issues of the day.

Genres: Philosophy

236 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

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Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick Lee has briefly addressed the metaphysical issue of personal identity in previous works and here he tries to expand his arguments and stretch their applicability to a more wide-reaching discussion of ethics. In those previous works I found myself moderately frustrated by Lee's lack of time spent on the foundational metaphysical disputes and while he dedicates longer chapters and greater discussion to them here I still find that he has glossed over much of the work out there. Lee argues for a kind of hylomorphic animalism but without really including much of the work by Eric Olson and Peter van Inwagen on the animalist side or many other Thomistic philosophers working on hylomorphism on the other side. Understandably the reason why Lee doesn't cover all of the arguments and technical points is because the book tries to address so many issues. I appreciate the systematic approach that Lee and George take to all of the issues and I think they are largely successful (which is why I gave the book such a high score) but at times I think they try to tackle too many issues for one book. For instance, the free will problem is solved in just a few pages and in the final chapter on sexual ethics contraception is not really mentioned at all, which was quite surprising. So I guess you could say I mostly love what is here I just want more to be said. And to be fair, they point to a lot of articles where I can get that material.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book that overlaps with the Moreland/Rae book. Lee and George spend the first two chapters arguing that humans are (1) animals and (2) persons, and then spend the remaining four chapters showing how their view of human ontology is superior to a substance dualist view in the realm of applied ethics.

[Anamaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent over view of what body-self dualism is, why it's wrong, and its consequences in our views of ethical issue. I highly recommend it.