Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism

( What is the meaning of life? Modern professional philos...)

What is the meaning of life? Modern professional philosophy has largely renounced the attempt to answer this question and has restricted itself to the pursuit of more esoteric truths. Not so David Norton. Following in the footsteps of Plato and Aristotle, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, Jung and Maslow, he sets forth a distinctive vision of the individual's search for his place in the scheme of things. Norton's theory of individualism is rooted in the eudaimonistic ethics of the Creeks, who viewed each person as innately possessing a unique potential it was his destiny to fulfill. Very much the same idea resurfaced in modern times with the British idealists and Continental existentialists. The author reviews these antecedents, showing how his theory differs from those of his predecessors. After a fascinating chapter on "The Stages of Life," Norton shows how the mature consciousness of one's destiny leads to direct, intimate knowledge of other persons, and how this in turn provides the basis for social morality. The conception of justice in which this theory culminates, rooted as it is in essential human differences, provides a challenging alternative to the much-discussed theories of Rawls and Nozick.

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Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism by Norton, David L. (1977) Paperback

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Democracy and Moral Development: A Politics of Virtue

( At a time when politics and virtue seem less compatible...)

At a time when politics and virtue seem less compatible than oil and water, Democracy and Moral Development shows how to bring the two together. Philosopher David Norton applies classical concepts of virtue to the premises of modern democracy. The centerpiece of the book is a model of organizational management applicable to the state, business, the professions, and voluntary communities.

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[ Democracy and Moral Development: A Politics of Virtue By Norton, David L ( Author ) Paperback 1995 ]

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More Than the Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to the Whole of Philosophy

("The textbook More Than the Love of Wisdom: An Introducti...)

"The textbook More Than the Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to the Whole of Philosophy responds to the oversimplified and trite description of philosophy that new students to the discipline typically produce or encounter. In contrast to many standard textbooks and courses, which present philosophy as a series of sub-topics such as ethics or metaphysics, this book familiarizes students with philosophy as a whole. It addresses what unifies the extreme diversity of philosophical questions and topics into one coherent discipline. The book begins by introducing, and rejecting, many popular but ill-informed responses to the question of what philosophy actually is. It disabuses the reader of common misunderstanding, and prepares the way for moving toward a clear and well-informed understanding of the nature of philosophy. Subsequent material addresses the various parts of philosophy, and its history, paving the way for readers to explore philosophy as an inquiry into the most general and fundamental concepts, principles, and features of the world. Concise and conversational, More Than the Love of Wisdom reasons with readers to reach a conclusion, making the book itself an exercise in doing philosophy. More Than the Love of Wisdom is written for undergraduate Introduction to Philosophy courses. It can also be used as a supplemental text for lower-division courses in ethics and the philosophy of the mind. David A. Jensen is associate professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, where he teaches courses in Kant, ethics, and the philosophy of language. He earned his doctoral degree in philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Jensen has been honored as a Mellon Fellow in Humanistic Studies, and an Ezra Taft Benson Scholar. His professional writing has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, and he is the author of the book Practical Reasons and Rationality."

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