Morality and Social Criticism - The Force of Reasons in Discursive Practice (Electronic book text)

Post-Enlightenment philosophy rejects the aspiration to step outside language and practice in order to view their conformity to the world from "sideways on." Consequently - it has been argued - we ought to regard ourselves as answerable to one another, rather than to the world or the moral law. But in rejecting the notion of objectivity in favor of a purely epistemic conception of validity, Amesbury contends, we forfeit important resources required for criticizing and reforming our respective societies. In Morality and Social Criticism, Amesbury brings recent developments in Anglo-American philosophy into engagement with dominant currents in contemporary European social theory in order to articulate a pragmatic account of moral criticism. Presented in a lively and accessible style that avoids the technical jargon characteristic of much of the current debate, Morality and Social Criticism argues for a conception of moral objectivity that is grounded in the discursive practice of reason-exchange.