Abraham Edel

Finbarr W. O'Connor

Elizabeth Flower

Over the past two decades, applied ethics has turned increasingly toward theories that explore ethical questions faced by a variety of professions and away from classic moral concerns. Abraham Edel, Elizabeth Flower, and Finbarr O'Connor utilize examples of professional, public policy, and personal decision making to illustrate the strengths and limitations of the application of ethics in a rapidly changing world.They first discuss the emergence of applied ethics and how it functions within a philosophical tradition. They are not concerned, however, with solving the problems they expose, but with employing them as a means to critique applied ethics. Using human rights and health and welfare issues, the authors examine the subsequent ethical stumbling blocks that surround the "moral order" of these social concerns. Through a historical discussion of the abundant ethical theories posited since the Enlightenment, they suggest ways to decide which can serve as intellectual tools for applied ethics and consider how knowledge and experience enter into any moral decision.Turning to the factors pertinent in the analysis and solution of moral problems, they dissect the underlying influences on the practice of ethics, the way in which a moral problem is diagnosed and its relevant contexts established, the ensuing conflicts between the concerns of the individual and of society, and the degree of inventiveness in issues of morality. The authors suggest that, instead of viewing theory as a set consequence derived from prior applications, relating theory to practice will engage a process of mutual aid, from which each element will learn, refining and improving the other. Author note: Abraham Edel is Research Professor, University of Pennsylvania, and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, City University of New York. Elizabeth Flower is Professor of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania. Finbarr O'Connor is Professor of Philosophy, Beaver College. The three collaboratively edited Morality, Philosophy, and Practice: Historical and Contemporary Readings and Studies.

Reflections and Recommendations

Critique of Applied Ethics

There is an historical element throughout philosophy. As Edel notes, this is always in the context of problems, so emphasis will fall on the major objective of reflective analysis of ideas. The major objective of Edel's analysis in The Theory and Practice of Philosophy is the fundamental interrelatedness of problems of method, metaphysics, and value. Each part is an integral whole, complete in itself.That philosophy has this central role in human practice indicates that it should be neither discarded nor deified. This is the explicit premise of the book. Students are likely to be faced increasingly with a demand for clarification on the fundamental issues of life and value. The expectation that philosophy will provide ready-made answers to these kinds of questions is as naive as the demand for any panacea, but this task cannot be turned over to any other department of human knowledge or any other branch of social activity.By placing emphasis on the importance of theory in matters of practice, the need for clear and systematic understanding of the world and man within it, and on the constant role of reflection in the management of human affairs, Edel seeks to shed light on the larger questions of philosophy by examining them in a systematic way. The result is a great text and tool for students and teachers that deals directly with the fundamental issues of our civilization.

The Theory and Practice of Philosophy

When "Method in Ethical Theory "was initially published in 1963, it called for greater awareness of how an agenda for moral philosophy is established and the conditons under which it changes. Edel strives for effective comparison of ethical theories, denying that any one theory has exclusive claim to the truth about ethics. He maintains that different theories are appropriate for particular conditions. In "Method in Ethical Theory, "he works out an approach for ethical theory that is both critical and comprehensive. Edel presents four approaches to his study: the "analytical "deals with terms and concepts; the "descriptive "seeks to accurately depict, classify, and interpret moral qualities and situations; the "causal-explanatory "raises questions about functional relations; and the "evaluative "critically observes and applies standards. Alongside of these perspectives, Edel sets up a comparative approach, one that grounds the study of ethics hi empirical and historical research. In his new introduction, Edel describes the historical context in which his book was written, and explains his reasons for writing it thirty years ago. "Method in Ethical Theory "continues to be a fundamental contribution to ethical studies. It will be of interest to philosophers, sociologists, and specialists in the study of ethics.

Method in Ethical Theory

Initially prepared as part of the Foundations of the Unity of Science volumes under the auspices of the "International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, Science and the Structure of Ethics "soon took on a life of its own. Well positioned in the naturalistic tradition of ethical theory extending from John Dewey at the start and Richard Rorty at the conclusion of the century, Abraham Edel's volume offers a remarkable synthesis of the ways hi which ethical statements can be examined, and the nature of ethical concerns. Edel reveals a singular capacity to move beyond oracular controversies of the good and the right hi favor of a comparative, analytic, and functional account of how ethical perspectives and practices affect the content of moral discourse. In Edel's work, the structure of ethical behavior is defined by biological, psychological, social, and historical functions. Hence a scientific account of ethics is possible since moral norms are themselves products of an experiential field open to verification procedures common to all other walks of human life. In reviewing the impact of Edel's work hi general, and this volume in particular, Irving Louis Horowitz notes that Edel's naturalistic emphasis fits neatly with a view of ethics as something grounded in human experience rather than mandated from divine assumption: "It is hard for me to imagine a turning back from the hard lessons of the century, any more in ethical theory than in empirical research as such. We owe a central place in our century's intellectual capital to Edel's examination of ethical doctrines in the light of changing circumstances." This is a work certain to enlist the interest of ethicists, sociologists of knowledge, as well as those concerned with issues hi the philosophy of science and religion alike.

Science and the Structure of Ethics

In this stunning act of synthesis, Abraham Edel captures the entire range of Aristotle's thought in a manner that will prove attractive and convincing to a contemporary audience. Many philosophers approach Aristotle with their own, rather than his, questions. Some cast him as a partisan of a contemporary school. Even the neutral approach of classical scholarship often takes for granted questions that reflect our modern ways of dissecting the world. Aristotle and His Philosophy shows him at work in asking and answering questions. Abraham Edel fashions a sound comparative way of using current analysis to deepen our understanding of Aristotle rather than argue with or simply appropriate him. Edel examines how Aristotle's basic ideas operated in his scientific and humanistic works, what they enabled him to do, what they kept him from doing, and what in turn we can learn from his philosophical experimentation. The purpose of this volume is twofold: to provide a comprehensive introduction to Aristotle's thought, and to throw fresh light on its patterned and systematic character. First, tracing the pattern in Aristotle's metaphysical and physical writings, he then explores the psychology, epistemology, ethics and politics, rhetoric and poetics. In the process, Edel discusses the way interpretations of Aristotle are built up and how different philosophical outlooksCatholic, Hegelian, Marxian, linguistic, naturalistic, and pragmatichave affected the reading of Aristotelian texts and ideas. The new introduction probes the general problem of interpreting a philosophy, and suggests how working through the different interpretations can contribute to a fuller understanding. This methodological self-consciousness makes Aristotle and His Philosophy markedly different from other studies of Aristotle. Martha C. Nussbaum of Brown University has described Edel as having "philosophical sensitivity and good sense throughout. His scholarship is comprehensive, but handled with grace and clarity."

Aristotle and His Philosophy

John Dewey was unique among American philosophers in his insistence that the events, the social structure, the beliefs and attitudes of a period, its models of science and human history, all have some constitutive role in its philosophical theory. This belief is amply demonstrated in Dewey's own writings. Dewey and James H. Tufts' Ethics was first published in 1908 with a revised edition appearing in 1932. Dewey's part in the latter was wholly rewritten, and in effect constituted a new work, showing that Dewey did not believe ethical beliefs were eternal and unchanging. In Ethical Theory and Social Change, Abraham Edel provides a comparative analysis of the two editions to show how Dewey conceived ethics as part of an ongoing culture, not intelligible if isolated.The years between the two editions of Dewey and Tufts' Ethics were momentous in America and across the world. In 1908 industrialism was in high gear, putting greater pressure on social institutions and raising expectations of technological progress and extended democratic growth. By 1932, the devastation of World War I, economic depression, and the rise of totalitarianisms of the left and right had shattered that earlier optimism. The shift toward secular philosophy and new perspectives in research and method in the social sciences was challenging established universalizing views of morality with perceptions of fundamental moral conflict and the threat of relativism in their resolution.Dewey, is an ideal case for comparing changes in ethical theory over a quarter century. Unlike many philosophers he appreciated change and many of his basic ideas are geared to the problem of human control over change. Moreover he is concerned with the relation of theory and practice, and much of his work in metaphysics and epistemology is devoted to discovering the role that doctrines in these fields play and how they reflect the movement of social life. He is constantly concerned with ethics, with the history of ethics, and with the presuppositions of ethical theories that are studied in the social sciences and applied in the normative disciplines of politics, education, and law.Dewey's project of comparison in ethics reveals how theory is crystallized in the processes of the growth of knowledge in all fields and the human vicissitudes of history. Ethical Theory and Social Change will be of interest to philosophers, sociologists, and intellectual historians.

Ethical Theory and Social Change

John Dewey insisted that the events, beliefs, social structure of a period all had a constitutive role in its philosophical theory. This text shows how this theory was illustrated in Dewey's own writings: "Ethics", written with Tuft, appeared in 1908, with a revised edition appearing in 1932.

Abraham Edel fashions a sound comparative way of using current analysis to deepen our understanding of Aristotle rather than argue with or simply appropriate him. Edel examines how Aristotle's basic ideas operated in his scientific and humanistic works, what they enabled him to do, what they kept him from doing, and what in turn we can learn from his philosophical experimentation. The purpose of this volume is twofold: to provide a comprehensive introduction to Aristotle's thought, and to throw fresh light on its patterned and systematic character. Tracing the pattern in Aristotle's metaphysical and physical writings, the author explores the psychology, epistemology, ethics and politics, rhetoric and poetics. In the process, Edel discusses the way interpretations of Aristotle are built up and how different philosophical outlooks - Catholic, Hegelian, Marxian, linguistic, naturalistic, and pragmatic - have affected the reading of Aristotelian texts and ideas.

Abraham Edel

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