Principled Ethics Generalism As a Regulative Ideal

Moral philosophy has long been dominated by the aim of understanding morality and the virtues in terms of principles. However, the underlying assumption that this is the best approach has received almost no defence, and has been attacked by particularists, who argue that the traditional link between morality and principles is little more than an unwarranted prejudice. In Principled Ethics, Michael Ridge and Sean McKeever meet the particularist challenge head-on, and defend a distinctive view they call "generalism as a regulative ideal."

Sean McKeever is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Davidson College, North Carolina Michael Ridge is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh