The Ontological Foundation of Ethics, Politics, and Law

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ISBN: 9780761836667 | 0761836667
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 1/26/2007

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This extensive collection develops the philosophical content of sections from the previously published The Structure of the Mind (University Press of America, 2004). Dr. Belfiore begins from the basic ontological conception that considers the human mind" or "spirit" as an evolving, conscious triad composed of intellect, sensitivity, and power, each exerting a selfish or moral activity. Through this approach the author develops new concepts about ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law. Dr. Belfiore poses these and other concepts under the opinion that issues concerning human beings can only be discussed by referring to what humans are as ontological entities, Thus, the notions of good and norms of morality, law, and society are derived from the structure and function of the mind. It follows that the solutions Dr. Belfiore presents are the results of a discovery and not the consequence of a conscious choice. Otherwise stated, ethics, politics, and law are given an ontological foundation. For each topic considered, Dr, Belfiore shows how his thought can reinterpret the views of other philosophers. The result of this is an innovative and highly stimulating text, which is of interest to graduate students and scholars in the philosophical branches of ethics, politics, and law

Figures	p. xv
Tables	p. xvii
Preface	p. xix
Premise: The Basic Ontological Conception	p. 1
A New Ontological Conception: The Mind and Its Components	p. 1
Expanding the Meaning of Descartes' "Cogito"	p. 1
Critical Analysis of the "Cogito Ergo Sum"	p. 1
The Mind, Its Components, and Its Products	p. 3
The Intellect and the Products of Its Outward Activity: Ideas, Projects, and Fantasies	p. 4
The Sensitiveness and the Products of Its Outward Activity: Sentiments	p. 5
The Power and the Products of Its Outward Activity: Actions	p. 5
The Inward Mind Activity (or Consciousness) and Its Products: Moral Events	p. 6
The New Ontological Conception in Four Propositions	p. 6
The Judgment Criteria for the Products of the Mind Components	p. 7
Judgment by "Specific Criteria"	p. 7
Judgment by the "Value Criterion", Valid for All Mind Products	p. 8
Judgment of Ideas and Projects by the Value Criterion	p. 8
Judgment of Sentiments by the Value Criterion	p. 12
Judgment of Actions by the Value Criterion	p. 12
Judgment of Moral Events by the Value Criterion	p. 13
Synopsis of the Mind Components, Their Products, and Their Judgment Criteria	p. 14
Private Ethics: Consciousness and Moral Thoughts, Feeling, and Acts	p. 19
Consciousness: The Inward Mind Activity That Produces the Moral Events	p. 20
Moral Events (Moral Thoughts/Projects, Moral Feelings, and Moral Acts)	p. 20
Moral Thoughts and Moral Projects/Decisions	p. 21
Moral Feelings	p. 22
Moral Acts	p. 23
Defining Moral Events: Consciousness versus Selfishness	p. 23
Moral Events versus Other Mental Products	p. 24
Moral Thoughts and Moral Projects-Decision versus Selfish or personal Ideas and Projects-Decisions	p. 25
Moral Thoughts (and Moral Conception) versus Selfish Ideas (and Scientific Theories)	p. 25
Moral Projects and Decisions versus Personal (or Selfish) Projects and Decisions	p. 26
Moral Feelings versus Personal (or Selfish) Sentiments	p. 26
Moral Acts versus Personal (or Selfish) Actions	p. 27
Features of Personal (or Selfish) Actions	p. 27
Features of Moral Acts	p. 28
Relationship Between Moral Acts and Personal Actions	p. 29
Consciousness as the Generator of Moral Principles, Moral Values, and Moral Norms	p. 30
Defining Moral Principles (Moral Thoughts), Moral Values (Moral Feelings), and Moral Norms (Moral Projects)	p. 30
Hierarchical Arrangement of the Various "Moral Goods"	p. 32
The "Ground Moral Norm" and the Spheres of Decreasing Moral Responsibility	p. 36
The Ground Moral Norm: An "Open" (non Dogmatic) Norm	p. 36
The Spheres of Decreasing Moral Responsibility of the Individual	p. 37
Moral Responsibility Toward Others	p. 37
Moral Responsibility Toward Oneself as the Origin of the Rights	p. 41
The Limit of Moral Responsibility: The "Evolution-Allowing, Involution-Avoiding Condition"	p. 42
The Imprecision in Defining Moral Goods and the Uncertainty in Moral Choices	p. 44
Judgment of Moral Events	p. 48
Judgment of Moral Events by the Morality Criterion	p. 48
Moral Thoughts and Moral Judgments	p. 48
The Supposed "Is-Ought Gap" and the "Evolution Toward Better States" as an Intrinsic Property of Mind	p. 50
Filling the "Is-Ought Gap" (or Connecting Reason to Morals)	p. 54
The Universalizability Principle	p. 56
A New Version of the Universalizability Principle	p. 65
Treating Men as Ends	p. 68
Other Views About the Reason-Morals Relationship	p. 69
Moral Feelings and Moral Judgments	p. 70
Arguments Against the Role of Moral Feelings in Moral Judgments	p. 71
The Notion of "Moral Feeling" in Classical Philosophical Works	p. 71
The Notion of "Moral Feeling" in Modern Philosophy	p. 74
Further Theories on Moral Judgment, Moral Thoughts, and Moral Feelings	p. 89
Neither Utilitarianism nor Kantianism: Categorical Desires	p. 89
Self-Interest Theories	p. 90
Rawls' Constructivism: The Higher-Order Interests of Free and Equal Persons	p. 93
Other Theories	p. 97
Refusing Morality	p. 108
Nietzsche's Thought	p. 108
Moral Skepticism	p. 111
Hard Moral Choices and Moral Dilemmas	p. 122
General Considerations	p. 122
Abortion: A Typical Hard Moral Case	p. 123
Other Examples of Hard Moral Cases	p. 129
Judgment of Moral Acts	p. 131
Good versus Bad Moral Acts	p. 131
Promoting the Evolution of Sensitiveness versus Promoting Happiness	p. 132
Pursuing Mind Evolution as the Source of Human Rights	p. 133
Classes of Good Moral Acts	p. 134
The General Class of Good Moral Acts	p. 134
The Sub-Classes of Good Moral Acts	p. 135
The Selfishness/Consciousness Balance (or Outward versus Inward mind activity)	p. 141
Judgment of Moral Events by the Value Criterion	p. 143
Super-Normal and Abnormal Moral Behavior	p. 145
Supererogation	p. 145
Moral Formalism	p. 145
Fanaticism	p. 146
Human Freedom	p. 148
The Claimed Freedom of Human Conduct	p. 148
Personal Decisions and Actions, as Determined by the Prevailing Sentiment	p. 148
Moral Decisions and Moral Acts as Determined by the Prevailing Moral Feelings	p. 149
The Fundamental Moral Choice: Moral Projects versus Personal Projects (The Claimed "Free Will")	p. 150
Moral Responsibility in the Absence of Internal Freedom	p. 154
The Primacy of Ethics	p. 157
Ethics and the Other Products of Mind Components	p. 157
Ethics and Religion	p. 158
Public Ethics and Political Philosophy	p. 161
Human Actions and Moral Acts: Their Judgment by the Value Criterion	p. 161
Distinction of Actions into Particular and Universal by the Value Criterion	p. 161
Society as the Result of the Universalization of Human Actions	p. 162
The Origin of Human Society	p. 162
Relationships Between Communities of Different Degrees of Universality	p. 164
Public Selfish Actions versus Public Moral Acts as the Binomial Motor of Human Society	p. 166
Social Institutions	p. 169
The "Principle of the Best Approach to Universality" and the Public Justification of Social Institutions	p. 170
Advantages of the "Principle of the Best Approach to the Universality of Public Actions"	p. 172
The "Best Approach to Universality" and the Proposal of a "Gradational Democracy"	p. 173
The "Voting Act" and Its Meaning	p. 179
Making the "Voting Act" Free and Responsible	p. 179
The Meaning of the "Voting Act"	p. 181
The "Rating" of Actions (and of the Laws that Regulate Them), and the Public Justification of Power	p. 183
The Rating of Actions and of Laws	p. 183
Publicly Justified Power	p. 183
Informal Mini-Communities	p. 185
"Arrogance", "Violence", and Publicly Unjustified Power	p. 187
Ethics and Politics, Duties and Rights	p. 190
The Ethical Aspects of Politics: The "Evolution-Allowing Condition" as the Public Moral End	p. 190
Duties as the Source of Rights	p. 194
The Imprecision in Defining Public Moral Ends and Norms as Source of Discussion and Diverse (Competing but not Contrasting) Opinions	p. 194
Political Concepts and Theories: Critique and Reinterpretation	p. 198
General Concepts: 1. The Centrality of the Idea of Class to Understand Men and Society	p. 198
General Concepts: 2. Equality	p. 199
Equality and Diversity	p. 199
Equality of Human Beings: Their Common Properties and Universal Rights	p. 199
Diversity of Human Beings: Their Individual Properties and Rights	p. 200
Equality versus Diversity of Human Beings	p. 202
Theories of Equality: A Critical Analysis	p. 204
Overview	p. 204
The Analysis of the Concept of Equality	p. 205
Equality as Related to Meritocracy, Fraternity, and Friendship	p. 220
The Confutation of the Concept of Equality	p. 221
General Concepts: 3. Property	p. 226
Private Property: Main Theories on Its Origin	p. 227
A Justificatory Theory of Private Property	p. 230
The Communal Property	p. 234
Property, Liberty, and Virtues	p. 236
Political Thought of Hobbes, Hume, and Nietzsche	p. 237
Hobbes	p. 238
Hume	p. 240
Nietzsche	p. 242
Utilitarianism	p. 245
Happiness, Utility, and Welfare as Moral Ends	p. 245
"Rule Utilitarianism" and "Government House Utilitarianism"	p. 249
Liberal Equality and the Compensation for Inequalities	p. 250
Rawls' Theory	p. 250
Rawls' First Principle (Equal Right to Liberty)	p. 250
Rawls' Second Principle (or Difference Principle)	p. 250
Rawls' Rule of the Priority of Liberty (First Priority Rule)	p. 254
Rawls' Rule of the Priority of Justice (Second Priority Rule)	p. 254
Dworkin's Theory	p. 256
Other Views on the Compensation for Inequalities	p. 257
Libertarianism	p. 259
Communism and Marxist Theories	p. 266
Classic Communism and Historical Materialism: The Core of the Theory	p. 266
Socialization of the Means of Production	p. 268
The Alleged Abundance of Resources and the Need for Justice	p. 272
"Exploitation" versus "Just Distribution"	p. 272
On the Existence and Nature of the "Surplus Value"	p. 273
Transfer of the "Surplus Value"	p. 277
Alienation	p. 278
Analytical Marxism and Non-Marxist Theories of Socialism	p. 280
Communitarianism	p. 280
Political Liberalism and Liberal Nationalism	p. 283
Political Liberalism	p. 283
Liberal Nationalism	p. 285
Citizenship Theory	p. 287
Citizenship Theory and Civic Virtues	p. 287
Civic Republicanism	p. 290
Teaching and Learning Civic Virtues	p. 290
Multiculturalism	p. 292
Feminism	p. 298
Other Issues	p. 301
Environmental Policy	p. 301
Rebellion	p. 302
Difficult moral choices in Public Life	p. 304
General Considerations	p. 304
Views About Dirty Hands Cases	p. 307
Dirty-Hands Cases in Non-Democratic Non-Constitutional (Old and Modern) States	p. 307
Dirty-Hands Cases in Modern Democratic Constitutional States	p. 309
Dirty Hands and Democracy	p. 309
The Alleged Justification of Dirty Hands	p. 313
Against Dirty Hands	p. 317
Comments on the Corruption in Political Life	p. 322
International Politics	p. 325
General Concepts and Ethical Issues	p. 325
General Concepts	p. 325
Ethical Issues in the International Politics	p. 327
Ethics in the International Society	p. 327
Remarks on War	p. 329
Classical Theories on International Politics	p. 331
Legal Positivism	p. 331
Natural Law	p. 333
Kantianism	p. 334
Contractarian Thought	p. 337
The Cosmopolitan Conception (Cosmopolitanism)	p. 338
Public Ethics and Philosophy of Law	p. 345
A New Conception of Laws	p. 345
Laws as Universal and Collective Projects	p. 345
Defining Laws	p. 345
Criteria for the Judgment of Laws	p. 347
The Value Criterion	p. 347
The Specific Judgment Criteria	p. 348
The Two-Fold Nature and the Binding Force of Laws	p. 348
The Two-Fold Nature of Laws	p. 348
Validity, Efficaciousness, and Binding Force of Laws	p. 350
Re-Definition of Laws	p. 354
Laws and Rights in a Democratic Constitutional State	p. 355
Laws in a Democratic Constitutional State	p. 355
Duties as the Source of Rights in a Democratic Constitutional State	p. 358
Norms, Laws, Rules, and Commands	p. 359
Legal Theories: Critique and Reinterpretation	p. 366
Natural Law Theory	p. 366
Classical Views on Natural Law	p. 366
Modern Views on Natural Law	p. 368
The Ethical Basis of Law	p. 368
Political Obligation (Reasons to Obey the Law)	p. 370
Interpretation of "Prior Law"	p. 371
Legal Positivism	p. 373
Laws as Orders Backed by Threats	p. 373
The Internal View of Laws	p. 376
The System of Primary and Secondary Rules	p. 378
The Distinction of Primary from Secondary Rules	p. 378
The Nature of Secondary Rules (Rules of Recognition)	p. 380
Laws and Morals	p. 386
The "Minimum Content of Natural Law" Theory	p. 386
Other Views on the Law-to-Morality Relationship	p. 388
Dworkin's Rules, Principles, and Policies	p. 391
The Indeterminacy of Law: Legal Formalism and Legal Realism	p. 394
Legal Formalism	p. 395
The Thesis of Legal Formalism	p. 395
Legal Formalism and the Individuality of Judges	p. 397
Legal Realism (Rule-Skepticism)	p. 398
The Thesis of Legal Realism: Judges as Lawmakers	p. 398
Legal Realism and the Binding Character of "Rules"	p. 403
Legal Realism and the Internal View of Laws	p. 405
Legal Realism and the "Final" Decisions	p. 406
The Ultimate Criteria of Legal Validity	p. 406
Other Legal Theories	p. 409
Kantianism	p. 409
Critical Legal Studies	p. 411
The Rule of Law	p. 413
Law and Economics	p. 415
Constitutionalism	p. 423
Moral Philosophy and Constitutional Law	p. 423
The Nature and Function of Constitution	p. 428
The Constitution and the Hierarchy of "Powers"	p. 428
The Constitution and the Hierarchy of Laws	p. 429
The Ontological Basis of the Separation of "Powers"	p. 429
Different Constitutions	p. 433
Adjudication	p. 435
Defining Adjudication	p. 435
Adjudication by Trial and Appellate Courts	p. 435
Constitutional Constraint and Judicial Review	p. 440
The Constitutional Constraint	p. 441
The Judicial Review	p. 443
Sanctions and Punishment	p. 445
International and Supra-National Laws	p. 449
Concluding Remarks	p. 453
References	p. 457
Index	p. 483
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The Ontological Foundation of Ethics, Politics, and Law

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