Background
Scheffler, Samuel was born on October 20, 1951 in New York City. Son of Israel and Rosalind (Zuckerbrod) Scheffler.
(In contemporary philosophy, substantive moral theories ar...)
In contemporary philosophy, substantive moral theories are typically classified as either consequentialist or deontological. Standard consequentialist theories insist, roughly, that agents must always act so as to produce the best available outcomes overall. Standard deontological theories, by contrast, maintain that there are some circumstances where one is permitted but not required to produce the best overall results, and still other circumstances in which one is positively forbidden to do so. Classical utilitarianism is the most familiar consequentialist view, but it is widely regarded as an inadequate account of morality. Although Samuel Scheffler agrees with this assessment, he also believes that consequentialism seems initially plausible, and that there is a persistent air of paradox surrounding typical deontological views. In this book, therefore, he undertakes to reconsider the rejection of consequentialism. He argues that it is possible to provide a rationale for the view that agents need not always produce the best possible overall outcomes, and this motivates one departure from consequentialism; but he shows that it is surprisingly difficult to provide a satisfactory rationale for the view that there are times when agents must not produce the best possible overall outcomes. He goes on to argue for a hitherto neglected type of moral conception, according to which agents are always permitted, but not always required, to produce the best outcomes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198235119/?tag=2022091-20
(Some people believe that the demands of morality coincide...)
Some people believe that the demands of morality coincide with the requirements of an enlightened self-interest. Others believe that morality is diametrically opposed to considerations of self-interest. This book argues that there is another position, intermediate between these extremes, which makes better sense of the totality of our moral thought and practice. Scheffler elaborates this position via an examination of morality's content, scope, authority, and deliberative role. Although conflicts between morality and self-interest do arise, according to this position, nevertheless morality is fundamentally a reasonable and humane phenomenon. Moreover, the psychological bases of effective moral motivation have sources deep within the self, and morally motivated individuals try to shape their own interests so as to avoid conflict with morality. Since human practices and institutions help to determine the prevalence of these motives, and since in this and other ways they influence the degree to which conflicts between morality and self-interest actually occur, the extent of such conflict is not fixed or immutable, and is in part a social and political issue.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195085647/?tag=2022091-20
(A new edition the reconsideration of the case against con...)
A new edition the reconsideration of the case against consequentialism supplemented with three subsequently published essays in which he responds to criticism of the original text and further develops various of its themes and arguments.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198246579/?tag=2022091-20
philosopher university professor
Scheffler, Samuel was born on October 20, 1951 in New York City. Son of Israel and Rosalind (Zuckerbrod) Scheffler.
Scheffler received his Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton University, where he was a student of the distinguished philosopher Thomas Nagel.
Before moving to New York University in 2008, Scheffler taught for 31 years at the University of California, Berkeley. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2004. His most recent book, Death and the Afterlife, based on his Tanner Lectures at University of California, Berkeley has generated considerable attention for its argument that much that we value in life depends on the assumption that life will continue long after our death.
As the Princeton philosopher Mark Johnston (philosopher) explained in the Boston Review: "In Scheffler’s self-consciously idiosyncratic use of the term, the "afterlife" is neither a supernatural continuation of this life, nor the result of a deeper naturalistic understanding of the kind of thing we are.
lieutenant is what John Stuart Mill called "the onward rush of mankind," the collective life of humanity after our individual deaths. lieutenant is entirely free from obfuscating jargon and other tiresome tricks of the trade, yet it is meticulously argued and demanding in exactly the right way -- forcing us to think about hitherto unexamined implications of our existing beliefs.".
(A new edition the reconsideration of the case against con...)
(This exceptional work--a collection of eleven essays by o...)
(This collection of essays by noted philosopher Samuel Sch...)
(In contemporary philosophy, substantive moral theories ar...)
(Some people believe that the demands of morality coincide...)
Scheffler’s thesis is that the onward rush of humankind—the collective afterlife—is much more important to us than we are ordinarily apt to notice." Assessing the argument, the English philosopher John Cottingham wrote: "Scheffler has produced a superb essay -- indeed it seems to me about as good as analytic philosophy gets.
Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences. Member American Philosophical Association.
Married Kathryn Granzow, January 16, 1983. Children: Adam Nathaniel, Gabriel Alexander.