American Ethics

American Ethics: An Introduction to Pragmatist Moral Philosophy is my second book, now out with Oxford University Press. They have the listing up here.

Here’s the epigraph for the opening chapter, which is drawn from a living philosopher who has deeply influenced how I think about both ethics and the history of philosophy:

In moral philosophy, whatever may hold of other branches of philosophy, the theoretical understanding of that which is in all other ways familiar to us accumulates very slowly. For that reason, the perceptions of our predecessors are integral to any alert or thoughtful consideration of the central questions. ~ David Wiggins

American Ethics makes the case that we should count the American pragmatists as important predecessors in moral philosophy, and that doing so offers new focal points in our thinking about what to do and how to live.