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8 - Dilemmas of Reason

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2019

Roger S. Gottlieb
Affiliation:
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
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Summary

Moral choice requires rationality, but a global environmental crisis created by our civilization makes it increasingly difficult to know what rationality is. Defining reason as the domination of nature is an essential part of the crisis, especially given the dependence of scientific research and technological innovation on corporate and government funding and interests. Yet with a multitude of radically different conceptions of selfhood, nature, ethical responsibility, the meaning of life (etc.), it is not clear what alternatives can take its place. Also, political shifts are erasing truth as a meaningful category of human understanding. At best, this chapter argues, we can evaluate the ultimate consequences of our separate conceptions of reason, remembering that even the identification of consequences will be subject to critical disagreements. A modicum of hope is found in how different cognitive and cultural communities (e.g., religion/science, Palestinians/ Israelis) are finding common ground because of common environmental threats.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Dilemmas of Reason
  • Roger S. Gottlieb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
  • Book: Morality and the Environmental Crisis
  • Online publication: 18 February 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316493083.009
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  • Dilemmas of Reason
  • Roger S. Gottlieb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
  • Book: Morality and the Environmental Crisis
  • Online publication: 18 February 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316493083.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Dilemmas of Reason
  • Roger S. Gottlieb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
  • Book: Morality and the Environmental Crisis
  • Online publication: 18 February 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316493083.009
Available formats
×