The Diversity of Morals - by Steven Lukes (Hardcover)

About the Book

"How to make sense of the divergence between philosophers' quest for a single morality and social scientists' assumption that there are multiple moralities. When we speak of morals, what are we speaking of? Is morality singular (as many philosophers tend to assume, even if they don't agree on what it is) or are there multiple moralities (which social scientists, notably anthropologists, study)? In The Diversity of Morals, Steven Lukes brings together these differing perspectives. Drawing on philosophy, sociology, social anthropology, psychology, and political theory, Lukes considers what the moral domain includes and what it excludes; how what is moral differs from what is conventional or customary in different contexts; whether morality is unified or a series of fragments; and, if there is a diversity of morals, what that diversity consists of. Lukes looks both ways -- toward philosophers' quest for a single best answer to the question of morality and toward sociologists' and anthropologists' assumption that there are several, even many, even very many, answers -- to make sense of their divergence. He traces the two approaches back to their beginnings, linking them to the differences between the ideas of David Hume, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Adam Smith. Lukes examines how we went from viewing the social world as 'us' versus 'them' to thinking of morality as universal, envisioning shared humanity and the sacredness of the human person, and what prevents this vision from being realized. Considering the breakdown of moral constraints in the perpetration of mass atrocities, Lukes asks if there are phenomena that are beyond moral justification. And he raises this crucial question: in light of the vast variation that history and the ethnographic record display, how wide and how deep is the diversity of morals?"--

Book Synopsis

How to make sense of the divergence between philosophers' quest for a single morality and social scientists' assumption that there are multiple moralities

When we speak of morals, what are we speaking of? Is morality singular (as many philosophers tend to assume, even if they don't agree on what it is) or are there multiple moralities (which social scientists, notably anthropologists, study)? In The Diversity of Morals, Steven Lukes brings together these differing perspectives. Drawing on philosophy, sociology, social anthropology, psychology, and political theory, Lukes considers what the moral domain includes and what it excludes; how what is moral differs from what is conventional or customary in different contexts; whether morality is unified or a series of fragments; and, if there is a diversity of morals, what that diversity consists of.

Lukes looks both ways--toward philosophers' quest for a single best answer to the question of morality and toward sociologists' and anthropologists' assumption that there are several, even many, even very many, answers--to make sense of their divergence. He traces the two approaches back to their beginnings, linking them to the differences between the ideas of David Hume, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Adam Smith. Lukes examines how we went from viewing the social world as "us" versus "them" to thinking of morality as universal, envisioning shared humanity and the sacredness of the human person, and what prevents this vision from being realized. Considering the breakdown of moral constraints in the perpetration of mass atrocities, Lukes asks if there are phenomena that are beyond moral justification. And he raises this crucial question: in light of the vast variation that history and the ethnographic record display, how wide and how deep is the diversity of morals?

Review Quotes

"Fascinating and richly interdisciplinary. . . . The Diversity of Morals is well worth reading for any philosopher interested in how other disciplines, especially the social sciences, have sought to make sense of many key aspects of morality."---Jussi Suikkanen, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Lukes's central insight--that universal capacities afford diverse realizations--provides a genuinely productive framework for understanding moral life across cultures and historical periods."---Shai M. Dromi, H-Net Reviews

"An elegant, judicious, well-researched, and clearly written exploration of the tension between what appear to be two irreconcilable ways of looking at the world: the obvious moral diversity leading to moral relativism and the less equally obvious--but powerful--intuition that some things are right/wrong, good/bad everywhere and at all times."-- "Choice"

"Engaging. . . . [and] satisfying."-- "New Yorker"

"A New Yorker Best Book of the Year"

"What are we talking about when we talk about morality? Steven Lukes tackles this question by richly combining sociology, his own discipline, with philosophy, anthropology, history and political theory."---Jane O'Grady, Prospect

About the Author

Steven Lukes is professor emeritus of sociology at New York University and previously taught at the University of Oxford, the European University Institute, the University of Siena, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work; Individualism; Power: A Radical View; Moral Relativism; and other books.