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210092

Varieties of enlightenment optimism

discourse ethics and Wittgensteinian particularism in conversation

Thomas Wallgren

pp. 306-342

Abstract

D. Ross once wrote that "in all the main theories in ethics… there is much that is true, and… even when theories are in broad opposition to each other, each is probably erring onlyl by overstatement or misstatement of something that is profoundly true".1 Ross's dictum can be seen as a reason for conversation between different traditions in moral philosophy, as what is weak and what valuable in them might be most readily discernible through comparison and dialogue. To date, such dialogue between discourse ethics and particularism has been almost non-existent.2 My essay presents an effort to recover some of the opportunities for learning about moral philosophy and the present moral predicament, which may thereby have been lost.

Publication details

Published in:

Alanen Lilli, Heinämaa Sara, Wallgren Thomas (1997) Commonality and particularity in ethics. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 306-342

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-25602-0_13

Full citation:

Wallgren Thomas (1997) „Varieties of enlightenment optimism: discourse ethics and Wittgensteinian particularism in conversation“, In: L. Alanen, S. Heinämaa & T. Wallgren (eds.), Commonality and particularity in ethics, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 306–342.