Talbot Brewer
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Talbot Brewer | |
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Education | Harvard University (PhD), Tufts University (MA) |
Era | 21st-century philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Analytic |
Institutions | University of Virginia |
Thesis | Character, Desire and Moral Commitment (1998) |
Doctoral advisor | Thomas M. Scanlon |
Other academic advisors | Christine Korsgaard Stanley Cavell John Rawls Fred Neuhouser Richard Moran |
Main interests | ethical theory, moral psychology |
Notable ideas | dialectical activity |
Talbot Brewer is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He is known for his works on moral philosophy.[1][2][3][4][5][6] [7] [8][9][10]
Philosophy
Brewer is known for his idea of "dialectical activity," arguing that contemporary moral philosophy is hindered by a production-oriented conception of human agency and action. He tries to retrieve a different "dialectical" conception of human agency drawing on classical moral philosophy (mainly Aristotle). He believes that our ritual activities show our presence in and to the world. Christopher Cordner provided a criticism of Brewer's idea and argued that this picture of ritual activities is not fully recognised in the dialectical conception of human agency.[11]
Lorraine Besser-Jones argues that Brewer's idea of human agency is incompatible with empirical evidence on motivation and concludes that proposing the good life as a unified dialectical activity is implausible.[12] Mark LeBar describes Brewer's work as saving moral philosophy from "the grip of bad questions and worse answers" and calls it an "ambitious aim."[13]
In her book Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming, Agnes Callard (from the University of Chicago) proposes her aspirational theory of morality and distinguishes it from Brewer's dialectical theory.[14] Jon Garthoff (from the University of Tennessee) proposes a “dynamic approximation” model of virtues based on Brewer’s dialectical idea of virtue acquisition and Rawl's theory of justice. In this model, emphasis and focus on a value gradually enables more engagement with it and more acknowledgement of it.[15] In a paper on teleological hospitality, Melissa Fitzpatrick (from Boston College) provides a critical interpretation of Brewer's work and argues that a crucial component of human flourishing is hospitality towards others.[16] Christopher Bennett (from the University of Sheffield) uses Brewer's idea of dialectical activity to provide an interpretation of Wenders' film Paris, Texas.[17]
Books
- The Retrieval of Ethics, Oxford University Press 2009. The book is in 481 libraries contributing to WorldCat.[18]
- The Bounds of Choice: Unchosen Virtues, Unchosen Commitments, Routledge & Kegan Paul 2000 The book is in 131 libraries contributing to WorldCat.[18]
References
- ^ "Talbot Brewer". Corcoran Department of Philosophy.
- ^ "Talbot Brewer". The Hedgehog Review.
- ^ Cokelet, Bradford (2011). "Review of The Retrieval of Ethics". Analysis. 71 (1): 193–195. doi:10.1093/analys/anq098. ISSN 0003-2638. JSTOR 41237296.
- ^ Schapiro, Tamar (8 December 2009). "The Retrieval of Ethics". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
- ^ Angier, Tom (October 2010). "The Retrieval of Ethics - Talbot Brewer: Book Reviews". The Philosophical Quarterly. 60 (241): 884–886. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9213.2010.673_12.x.
- ^ Merritt, Melissa (2018). "Virtue as a Skill". Kant on Reflection and Virtue: 159–183. doi:10.1017/9781108344005.009. ISBN 9781108344005.
- ^ Baertschi, Bernard (2010). "Talbot B REWER . The Retrieval of Ethics . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. 344 pp". Ethical Perspectives. 17 (1): 134–136.
- ^ Carson, Nathan P. "Appreciation: Its Nature and Role in Virtue Ethical Moral Psychology and Dialectical Moral Agency" (PDF). Baylor University.
- ^ Carson, Nathan P. (2010). "Review of The Retrieval of Ethics". The Review of Metaphysics. 64 (1): 133–135. ISSN 0034-6632. JSTOR 29765347.
- ^ Corbí, Josep E. (2021). "Agency in the Space of Reasons". Corbí, J. E. 2021, 'Agency in the Space of Reasons. A Comment on *The Castle*' in Koblízek, T. And Kotátko, P. *Lessons from Kafka*. Prague: Filosofia, Pp.113-140.
- ^ Cordner, Christopher (April 2016). "Dialectical Activity, Ritual, and Value: A Critique of Talbot Brewer: Philosophical Investigations". Philosophical Investigations. 39 (2): 178–191. doi:10.1111/phin.12080.
- ^ Besser-Jones, Lorraine (1 January 2011). "Drawn to the Good? Brewer on Dialectical Activity". Journal of Moral Philosophy. 8 (4): 621–631. doi:10.1163/174552411X592194. S2CID 144290108.
- ^ LeBar, Mark (1 July 2012). "Talbot Brewer, The Retrieval of Ethics". Ethics. 122 (4): 797–801. doi:10.1086/666535. ISSN 0014-1704.
- ^ Callard, Agnes (2018). Aspiration : the agency of becoming. New York, NY. pp. 223–228. ISBN 9780190639488.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Garthoff, Jon (23 August 2018). "The Dialectical Activity of Becoming Just". Justice. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190631741.003.0008.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Melissa (2 March 2021). "7 Teleological Hospitality The Case of Con temporary Virtue Ethics". Radical Hospitality: 88–96. doi:10.1515/9780823294442-008. ISBN 9780823294442. S2CID 233851112.
- ^ Bennett, C. (27 June 2021). "Love among the ruins: on the possibility of dialectical activity in Paris, Texas". Angelaki. 27 (5). ISSN 0969-725X.
- ^ a b https://www.worldcat.org/title/bounds-of-choice-unchosen-virtues-unchosen-commitments/oclc/43434771?referer=br&ht=edition [bare URL]
External links
- "Talbot Brewer". The Virtue Blog. 19 June 2018.
- "Talbot Brewer". Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.