Background
Louden, Robert Burton was born on April 8, 1953 in Lafayette, Indiana, United States. Son of Robert Kurtz and Anne Louden.
(Contemporary philosophers have grown increasingly skeptic...)
Contemporary philosophers have grown increasingly skeptical toward both morality and moral theory. Some argue that moral theory is a radically misguided enterprise that does not illuminate moral practice, while others simply deny the value of morality in human life. In this important new book, Louden responds to the arguments of both "anti-morality" and "anti-theory" skeptics. In Part One, he develops and defends an alternative conception of morality, which, he argues, captures more of the central features of both Aristotelian and Kantian ethics than do other contemporary models, and enables the central importance of morality to be convincingly reaffirmed. In Louden's model, morality is primarily a matter of what one does to oneself, rather than what one does or does not do to others. This model eliminates the gulf that many anti-morality critics say exists between morality's demands and the personal point of view. Louden further argues that morality's primary focus should be on agents and their lives, rather than on right actions, and that it is always better to be morally better--i.e. it is impossible to be "too moral." Part Two presents Louden's alternative conception of moral theory. Here again he draws on the work of Aristotle and Kant, showing that their moral theories have far more in common than is usually thought, and that those features that they share can be the basis for a viable moral theory that is immune to the standard anti-theory objections. Louden reaffirms the necessity and importance of moral theory in human life, and shows that moral theories fulfill a variety of genuine and indispensable human needs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195072928/?tag=2022091-20
(The World We Want compares the future world that Enlighte...)
The World We Want compares the future world that Enlightenment intellectuals had hoped for with our own world at present. In what respects do the two worlds differ, and why are they so different? To what extent is and isn't our world the world they wanted, and to what extent do we today still want their world? Unlike previous philosophical critiques and defenses of the Enlightenment, the present study focuses extensively on the relevant historical and empirical record first, by examining carefully what kind of future Enlightenment intellectuals actually hoped for; second, by tracking the different legacies of their central ideals over the past two centuries. But in addition to documenting the significant gap that still exists between Enlightenment ideals and current realities, the author also attempts to show why the ideals of the Enlightenment still elude us. What does our own experience tell us about the appropriateness of these ideals? Which Enlightenment ideals do not fit with human nature? Why is meaningful support for these ideals, particularly within the US, so weak at present? Which of the means that Enlightenment intellectuals advocated for realizing their ideals are inefficacious? Which of their ideals have devolved into distorted versions of themselves when attempts have been made to realize them? How and why, after more than two centuries, have we still failed to realize the most significant Enlightenment ideals? In short, what is dead and what is living in these ideals?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195321375/?tag=2022091-20
Louden, Robert Burton was born on April 8, 1953 in Lafayette, Indiana, United States. Son of Robert Kurtz and Anne Louden.
Bachelor, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1975; Master of Arts, University of Chicago, 1976; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Chicago, 1981.
Visiting assistant professor philosophy, Iowa State University, Ames, 1980-1982; assistant professor philosophy, U. Southern Maine, Portland, 1982-1986; associate professor philosophy, U. South Maine, Portland, 1988-1996; professor philosophy, U. South Maine, Portland, since 1996. Series editor Ethical Theory State University of New York Press, 1988-1994. Visiting professor philosophy Göttingen (Germany) U., 1992, Emory University, Atlanta, 1995.
(The World We Want compares the future world that Enlighte...)
(Contemporary philosophers have grown increasingly skeptic...)
Member American Philosophical Association, American Philosophical Society (fellow 2002-2003), Fulbright German Studies Seminar, Northern New England Philosophical Association (president 1986-1987), Maine Philios. Institute (president 1985-1986).
Married Lucinda Baker, June 15, 1980 (divorced September 1982). Married Tama Silverstein, May 19, 1985. Children: Elizabeth Mary, Sarah Rebecca.