Value and Context: the Nature of Moral and Political Knowledge

Alan Thomas Presents An Original Study Of The Status Of Value And Its Relation To The Contexts In Which Evaluative Claims Are Justified. He Articulates And Defends The View That Human Beings Do Possess Moral And Political Knowledge, But That It Is Historically And Culturally Contextual Knowledge In Ways That, Say, Mathematical Or Chemical Knowledge Is Not. His Exposition Of A 'cognitivist Contextualism' In Ethics And Politics Builds Upon Contemporary Work In Epistemology, Moral Philosophy, And Political Theory To Fashion An Argument That Is Relevant To Current Debates About Culture, Modernity, And Relativism.--jacket. Part I : Moral Knowledge And Moral Reasons -- The Problem Of Moral Knowledge -- The Case For Cognitivism -- Values, Norms, And The Practical -- Internal Reasons And Contractualist Impartiality -- Part Ii : Norm-expressivism And Non-objectivism -- A Critique Of Expressivism -- Non-objectivism And Internal Realism -- Part Iii : Contextualist Moral Justification -- Epistemological Contextualism -- A Contextual Model Of Moral Justification -- Tradition Based Moral Enquiry -- Moral Belief And The Possibility Of Error -- Part Iv : Contextualism In Political Philosophy -- Political Liberalism And Contextualism -- Political Liberalism And Civic Republicanism. Alan Thomas. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [323]-339) And Index. Also Available On The Internet To Subscribing Institutions.