An Interdisciplinary Study of Normative Concepts--Ideal Theory and Theory of Implementation

FAIN: FR-10150-78

David E. Cooper
Northern Michigan University (Marquette, MI 49855-2818)

Normative philosophy (ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, etc.) requires thinking on abstract levels in areas where most students have had very little training. This study is to do further reading in the sciences to find additional concrete studies or experiments that will help clarify and give evidence for basic normative concepts such as liberty and autonomy, rational action, individual consent, responsibility and cognitive justice and the "basic" individual, relative truth versus absolute truth, rational emotion, reflective equilibrium and impartiality. PI hopes to integrate this material into an introductory ethics textbook.