Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
- Towards an Ethics Writ Large
On ethics writ small
Introducing the possibility of an ethics writ large
Telling and urging
In the beginning was the deed
Beginning at the ending
2 From Ethōs to Ethics
From custom to character to duty
The codependency of Is and Ought as an elective affinity
The untranslatability of metaphysical statements in ethics
Three cases: compassionless reason, reasonable compassion, and
reason versus compassion
3 The Burden of Caring
The leading question
Towards a phenomenological interpretation of reason and compassion in ethics
"Gninnigeb eht ta nigeb" – George Oppen
Responsibility versus presponsibility : herein of Levinas
The politics of ethics writ large
4 Ethical Doubts about Justice
The hope for justice
The force of law
Justice’s guardianship over law
The shabbiness of law compared with the wonderfulness of justice
The problem of fidelity to law in a relativistic age
The customary agreeableness of justice
The suspicious wordiness of reason
5 Concluding Anecdote about the Difference between Ambiguity and Treachery
"But this is a pipe": a law professor’s anecdote
The indeterminacy thesis
Deconstruction
The treachery of ambiguity versus the ambiguity of treachery
The ethics of self-treachery
References
Index
Biography
Louis E. Wolcher is the Charles I. Stone Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington Law School.
