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9780415894418

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The contemporary landscape of metaethics is a topsy-turvy field of complex contributions, new twists on old views, and fundamental disputes about how, even, to describe the basic questions under dispute. In Metaethics: A Contemporary Introduction, one of the masters of the craft cuts through this complexity in order to put readers in a position to see the compelling philosophical problems that lead to these different comprehensive theories. Mark Schroeder, University of Southern California, USA Beautifully conceived, this book begins by explaining three central goals that drive much contemporary metaethical theorizing: to provide a plausible conception of the subject-matter of ethical thought and talk, to explain the practicality of ethics, and to explain the possibility and texture of ethical knowledge. The book then uses these goals to motivate and evaluate systematic metaethical theories, from simple views that are often used as instructive foils to the most influential contemporary options. Fair-minded, illuminating, and accessible to the neophyte, this is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of introductory courses in metaethics. Tristram McPherson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA Mark van Roojen's new work is now the finest book of its kind. It is focused on the right questions, it sympathetically reconstructs and fairly criticizes the major arguments offered for the major metaethical positions, and it is informed throughout by a deep familiarity with the philosophical terrain. This will be a huge help for those seeking to acquaint themselves with the history of metaethics over the past two generations. This is a terrific book. Russ Shafer-Landau, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

The contemporary landscape of metaethics is a topsy-turvy field of complex contributions, new twists on old views, and fundamental disputes about how, even, to describe the basic questions under dispute. In Metaethics: A Contemporary Introduction, one of the masters of the craft cuts through this complexity in order to put readers in a position to see the compelling philosophical problems that lead to these different comprehensive theories. Mark Schroeder, University of Southern California, USA Beautifully conceived, this book begins by explaining three central goals that drive much contemporary metaethical theorizing: to provide a plausible conception of the subject-matter of ethical thought and talk, to explain the practicality of ethics, and to explain the possibility and texture of ethical knowledge. The book then uses these goals to motivate and evaluate systematic metaethical theories, from simple views that are often used as instructive foils to the most influential contemporary options. Fair-minded, illuminating, and accessible to the neophyte, this is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of introductory courses in metaethics. Tristram McPherson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA Mark van Roojen's new work is now the finest book of its kind. It is focused on the right questions, it sympathetically reconstructs and fairly criticizes the major arguments offered for the major metaethical positions, and it is informed throughout by a deep familiarity with the philosophical terrain. This will be a huge help for those seeking to acquaint themselves with the history of metaethics over the past two generations. This is a terrific book. Russ Shafer-Landau, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Author Information

Mark van Roojen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He works primarily in ethics and metaethics but remains interested in the rest of philosophy. His most widely read papers are on moral rationalism, expressivism, moral psychology, and the semantics of moral terms.

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