The Ethics of Our Climate : Hermeneutics title: and Ethical Theory author: O'Neill, William R. publisher: Georgetown University Press isbn10 | asin: 0878405658 print isbn13: 9780878405657 ebook isbn13: 9780585283784 language: English Ethics, Ethics, Modern--20th century, subject Hermeneutics, Postmodernism. publication date: 1994 lcc: BJ1031.O54 1994eb ddc: 171 Ethics, Ethics, Modern--20th century, subject: Hermeneutics, Postmodernism. Page iii The Ethics of Our Climate Hermeneutics and Ethical Theory William R. O'Neill, S.J. Page iv To my family Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. © 1994 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1994 This volume is printed on acid-free offset book paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O'Neill, William R. The ethics of our climate : hermeneutics and ethical theory / William R. O'Neill. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Ethics. 2. Ethics, Modern20th century. 3. Hermeneutics. 4. Postmodernism. I. Title. BJ1031.054 1994 171dc20 ISBN 0-87840-565-8 94-11004 Page v CONTENTS Preface vii Introduction 1 Part One: The Eclipse of Phronesis 7 * 1 9 Art and Arete Virtuous Activity is Desired for Its Own Sake 9 The Virtues as Excellences (Aretai) of the Perfect 15 Community Notes 18 2 21 The Kantian Crucible The Technical Reduction of Prudence 23 The Distinction of Hypothetical and Categorical 29 Imperatives The "Objective Necessity" of Categorical Imperatives 33 The Sufficiency of Moral Prescription 39 Notes 44 Part Two: The Kantian Heritage 49 3 51 The Universal Prescriptivism of R. M. Hare The Stipulation of Universalizability 53 Benevolent Reduction 56 The Indeterminacy of Critical Prescription 57 The Limits of Intuitive Prescription 58 Notes 60 4 62 The Kantian Constructivism of John Rawls The Tacit Role of Prejudice 67 The Prejudice of Equal Respect 71 Concluding Reflections 74 Notes 75 Page vi Part Three: Visions and Revisions: Philosophy with a 79 Practical Intent 5 81 The Concept of Prudence Intentional Actions 82 Hypothetical Imperatives 85 Practical Prescription 88 Concluding Reflections 98 Notes 102 6 106 On the Way to Hermeneutics On Being at Home in Language 108 The Bounds of Sense 112 Ethics and Hermeneutics 118 Concluding Reflections 123 Notes 124 7 129 A Concluding Theological Postscript Theological Interpretations 130 The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics 136 Concluding Reflections 144 Notes 145 Bibliography 149 Index 159 Page vii PREFACE "'Tis all in pieces" writes the poet John Donne of the "frailty and decay of this whole world." For virtue and verity are "things forgot" as "new philosophy calls all in doubt."1 Donne's ''Anatomy" of the modern world is somber, yet prescient, for the tragedies of our own day belie the Kantian ideal of an ethical commonwealth. One wonders, indeed, if we have not built a new Babel, for our differences seem insuperable and moral theory of little avail: Kant's "formalism" proves empty, and neo-Aristotelian ethics blindeven religious ethics succumbs to modernity's grammar of dissent. In these pages, I seek to chart a via media between these extremes, for moral wisdom is gleaned, I believe, in the very genealogy of our differences. The historical criticism of Aristotelian and Kantian moral theories in Part One sets the stage for a critical appraisal of the rival neo-Kantian theories of R. M. Hare and John Rawls in Part Two. In my criticism of Hans-Georg Gadamer's recovery of Aristotelian phronesis * in Part Three, I defend a conception of moral wisdom at play in our ordinary discourse. The final chapter is devoted to assessing the moral import of religious (Christian) belief, for the antinomy of an "empty" formalism (Moralität) and "blind" ethics (Sittlichkeit) recurs in the dispute of the "autonomy school" and "faith ethic" in modern moral theology. Our hermeneutical reflections may thus be read as a prolegomenon to an ethics which, as befits our (post)modern age, is at once truly Christian and of "our climate." I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Louis Dupré, whose guidance and criticism have been invaluable in the course of my writing. His inspiration and I hope his wisdom are reflected in these 1. John Donne, "An Anatomy of the World," in The Complete English Poems, ed. A. J. Smith (New York: Penguin Books, 1971), 276. Page viii pages. I am grateful, likewise, to Professors Margaret Farley and Gene Outka for their kind and judicious criticism, and to Professor Robert Bellah with whom I studied Jürgen Habermas. To these, my mentors and friends, I owe a great debt of gratitude. A Newcombe Fellowship permitted me to complete my dissertation, which has been considerably revised to form the present book, and I thank the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation for this honor. Finally, I am grateful to Dr. John Samples and Patricia Rayner of Georgetown University Press for their diligent labors in preparing the final manuscript for publication.