Memoir Ethics: Good Lives and the Virtues is a philosophical study of moral themes in memoirs, exploring how memoirists present and defend perspectives on good lives. It pays particular attention to the interplay of the virtues, including their interplay with additional (non-moral) types of values in good lives. More generally, it explores the relevance of memoir to moral philosophy, and in turn how moral philosophy enters into elucidating and critiquing memoirs. Memoirs are understood as non-fiction narratives written by oneself and significantly about oneself (including full-life autobiographies). Mike W. Martin explores perspectives on good lives as they are expressed in memoirs written by both philosophers and non-philosophers. Most of the chapters focus on one of the generic aspects of good lives: moral goodness, authenticity, meaningfulness, happiness, health, and self-fulfillment. The book clarifies how memoirists often employ life-based arguments in defending value perspectives, and it includes a discussion of whether philosophers’ memoirs are distinctive, compared to memoirs by non-philosophers and also compared to other forums for doing philosophy. Martin highlights some parallels between features of good lives and features of memoirs; for example, both can be said to be meaningful, authentic, and having virtues such as wisdom and courage. Demonstrating how memoirs are rich resources in exploring the good lives and exploring ways in which philosophical ethics provide tools for interpreting memoirs, Memoir Ethics will be of interest to a broad audience of students, scholars, and general readers, including anyone interested in ethics or the connections between literature and philosophy.
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Chapter 1 Morality in Memoir Chapter 2 Life-Based Arguments Chapter 3 Good Character Chapter 4 Authenticity as a Virtue Chapter 5 Authenticity and Self-Knowledge Chapter 6 Meaning and Motivation Chapter 7 Meaning and Unity Chapter 8 Pursuits of Happiness Chapter 9 Healthy Coping with Illness Chapter 10 Self-Fulfillment Chapter 11 Philosophers’ Memoirs Chapter 12 Conclusion: Lives and Stories
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781498533652
Publisert
2016-02-10
Utgiver
Vendor
Lexington Books
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
238 mm
Bredde
160 mm
Dybde
19 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
184

Forfatter

Biographical note

Mike W. Martin is professor of philosophy at Chapman University.