Moral Progress

Abstract

Abstract The overall aim of this book is to understand the character of moral progress, so that making moral progress may become more systematic and secure, less chancy and less bloody. Drawing on three historical examples—the abolition of chattel slavery, the expansion of opportunities for women, and the increasing acceptance of same-sex love—it asks how those changes were brought about and seeks a methodology for streamlining the kinds of developments that occurred. Moral progress is conceived as pragmatic progress, progress from rather than progress to, achieved by overcoming the problems and limits of the current situation. Two kinds of problems are distinguished: problems of exclusion, found when the complaints of some people (the oppressed) are ignored; and problems of false consciousness, present when the oppressed adopt judgments from the ambient society and do not protest their condition. The proposed methodology advocates procedures for listening to voiced complaints and for systematically reviewing the way in which particular self-conceptions, ideals, and identities are taken to be appropriate for various groups of people. Through outlining a picture of moral practice, at both the individual and the societal levels, the book seeks to orient moral philosophy away from metaethical questions of realism and toward moral methodology.

Authors 4

1. Philip Kitcher

   Columbia University

   Affiliation as printed

   John Dewey Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Columbia University

2. Jan‐Christoph Heilinger Aachen Researcher and lecturer in philosophy

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Researcher and lecturer in philosophy, RWTH Aachen University

3. Rahel Jaeggi

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Professor of Practical Philosophy, Center for Humanities and Social Change Berlin at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

4. Susan Neiman

   Einstein Forum

   Affiliation as printed

   Director, Einstein Forum