The most complete edition yet published of Wittgenstein’s1929 lecture includes a never-before published first draft andmakes fresh claims for its significance in Wittgenstein’soeuvre. The first available print publication of all known drafts ofWittgenstein’s Lecture on Ethics Includes a previously unrecognized first draft of the lectureand new transcriptions of all drafts Transcriptions preserve the philosopher’s emendationsthus showing the development of the ideas in the lecture Proposes a different draft as the version read by Wittgensteinin his 1929 lecture Includes introductory essays on (...) the origins of the material andon its meaning, content, and importance. (shrink)

The interest in supererogation and supererogatory actions derives from the perception that there is something problematic about them. I shall argue that there is nothing problematic about them. The perception to the contrary arises from preconceptions common in ethical theory. When these are relaxed or dismissed, supererogatory actions are easily assimilated as well-motivated, responses to moral situations. Assimilating, rather than denying, them is important for a sound moral philosophy.

I question whether the flourishing that McMullin presents as negotiating the demands of three distinct normative domains is itself normative. If it is, I argue it must be incremental in some way to...

Weil’s essay on Homer’s Iliad contains a philosophical analysis of la force that divides it into two phenomena with one metaphysical ground. Her analysis is a corrective to misunderstandings of force as something that can be possessed. The first half of my elaboration of Weil’s analysis is devoted to the phenomena she identifies in relation to la force, which I call might. In the second half, I elaborate the varieties of misunderstanding of la force. First, might is an illusion sustained (...) by the shared belief of those in submission to might. Second, forces, i.e. the material forces on which weaponry depends, cannot be possessed. Third, what lies behind material forces is necessity, a third meaning of la force, which functions as a superordinate or ultimate force to which everyone and everything is subject. Understanding the last of these is the corrective that Weil means to present. (shrink)

Fifty years after Wittgenstein's death, his philosophy and the arguments it embodied remain vital and applicable. _Wittgenstein's Enduring Arguments_ illustrates the use of Wittgenstein's thought for continuing philosophical debates, old and new. Featuring essays by leading international philosophers, the collection examines the key theme of representation in Wittgenstein's philosophy. Organised into three clear parts the book considers representation in cognition, in language and in what cannot be represented - the absolute. The first part applies Wittgenstein to leading questions concerning qualia, (...) the grammar of phenomenology and developmental psychology. The second part applies Wittgenstein to vexing knots in the philosophy of language like language and concept acquisition, the normativity of meaning and linguistic understanding. The final section addresses Wittgenstein's unique philosophical approach to logic, self, religion and ethics. Each specially commissioned chapter demonstrates the successful application of Wittgenstein's philosophy; collectively they express a confidence that Wittgenstein's arguments and his philosophy will endure. _Wittgenstein's Enduring Arguments_ is essential reading for those seeking to examine and assess the philosopher's lasting contribution to modern thought. (shrink)