Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- I The Fundamental Problem
- PART ONE SOCIAL ORDER AND SOCIAL MORALITY
- II The Failure of Instrumentalism
- III Social Morality as the Sphere of Rules
- IV Emotion and Reason in Social Morality
- PART TWO REAL PUBLIC REASON
- Concluding Remarks on Moral Freedom and Moral Theory
- Appendix A The Plurality of Morality
- Appendix B Economic Freedom in States that Best Protect Civil Rights
- Bibliography
- Index
II - The Failure of Instrumentalism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- I The Fundamental Problem
- PART ONE SOCIAL ORDER AND SOCIAL MORALITY
- II The Failure of Instrumentalism
- III Social Morality as the Sphere of Rules
- IV Emotion and Reason in Social Morality
- PART TWO REAL PUBLIC REASON
- Concluding Remarks on Moral Freedom and Moral Theory
- Appendix A The Plurality of Morality
- Appendix B Economic Freedom in States that Best Protect Civil Rights
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
We must ask whether societies could exist without more or less severely sanctioned rules, such as are embodied in the law, custom, and in social morality, and if so, whether it would be desirable to do away with at least the most intrusively coercive ones, as the anarchists believe.
Kurt Baier, The Rational and the Moral OrderLike all other values, our morals are not the product but a presupposition of reason, part of the ends which the instrument of our intellect has been designed to serve.
F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of LibertyTo begin our understanding of social morality, we must see why it is necessary: why human social life confronts us with situations in which each individual relying on her own reasoning about her ends can lead to results that are bad for all. This chapter considers instrumental reasoning in “mixed motive games” in which although all benefit from cooperation, all are tempted to cheat, but if they do so, all will be worse off. In the history of social and moral philosophy, those who have taken this problem most seriously, and from whom we have the most to learn, are Hobbes and his contemporary followers such as David Gauthier. Rational individuals, they argue with great sophistication, can reason themselves out of such situations by agreeing to social morality; social morality is a tool of rational individuals who are seeking to promote their values and ends.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Order of Public ReasonA Theory of Freedom and Morality in a Diverse and Bounded World, pp. 53 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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