E-grāmata: Works Righteousness: Material Practice in Ethical Theory

"Works Righteousness is the first full-length study of the place of practice in ethical theory. It is a critique of the idealism of dominant approaches, an analysis of alternative models in which practice plays a more significant role, and an argument for taking practice seriously both in broad questions about ethical theory and in concrete case studies. The book's main argument is that what people actually do should be central to ethical theory. Rather than assuming that pre-established moral ideas guide action, ethicists should acknowledge and explore the ways that practices generate values and the mutual shaping between ideas and actions. This argument challenges dominant philosophical and religious theories that assume that ideas are what really matter"--

"Theologically informed and philosophically astute, Anna Peterson develops a practice-based ethical theory that discloses the centrality of the embodied imagination for human life and action. She develops her distinctive argument through a critical review of the contributions and shortcomings of virtually every theoretical alternative. A timely analysis of urgent ethical dilemmas, Works Righteousness deserves serious consideration and extensive debate." --Mark C. Taylor, Professor of Religion, Columbia University"Both a compelling advance in the field of ethics and an outstanding classroom resource, this book is an eminently convincing map of the multilateral relationship between practices and ethics. Anna Peterson applies her gift for narrative analytic prose to articulate the limitations of a one-way street approach to ethics that moves outward from ideas to actions--and develops new intellectual resources to provide a compelling alternative that gives practice its due." --Donovan Schaefer, author of Religious Affects: Animality, Evolution, and Power"Anna Peterson draws on the ethical wisdom of the past and extends its guidance with creativity and rigor, offering a practice-based approach to ethics that can help us engage deeply and creatively with the most essential ethical and political challenges of our time--economic justice, religious pacifism, rising white nationalism, euthanasia, and human-induced climate change. She challenges us to work collectively to open our hearts to the suffering of others and our minds to new possibilities of expansive justice and collective flourishing." --Sharon D. Welch, author of After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transforrruition

In Works Righteousness, Anna L. Peterson examines the place of practice in contemporary ethical theory. Peterson argues that rather than assuming that pre-established moral ideas guide action, ethicists should acknowledge and explore the relationship between ideas, actions, and results. Both an analysis of alternative models in which practice plays a stronger role and an argument for taking practice more seriously in broad questions of ethics as well as in concrete case studies, Works Righteousness contends that what we do generates and alters our values, just as often as expressed values motivate or guide the ways we act.

Peterson here challenges prevailing philosophical and religious theories that ideas are what truly matter, underlining the value of attention to people's concrete experiences and highlighting the relevance of theoretical insights to contemporary social issues such as climate change, euthanasia, and hate speech. Through examinations of pragmatism, Marxism, and religious pacifism, all of which significantly highlight a practice-focused approach, Works Righteousness addresses the way social structures condition moral ideas and actions, the dangers of thinking about moral problems as polarized dilemmas, and the complex mutual shaping of ideas and actions.