Moral change

How does moral change occur? What leads to the overthrow of beliefs, ideals, and moral values or their gradual transformation? Change is one of the most prominent features in ethics but is not well understood. In this book, Cecilia Eriksen offers a luminous map of the dynamics of moral change, its structure, and its normativity. Through eight narratives inspired by the legal field and through a dialogue with modern moral philosophy, Eriksen— with a distinctive and clear Wittgensteinian voice— discusses bias, conflict, progress, moral revolutions, and develops an understanding of ethics that considers the context and explains how gaining knowledge of the past will help us build a better future. This stimulating and refreshing study by Eriksen combines philosophical analysis of the sources and structures of moral change with rich clarification through the wise selection of important historical issues, relying on law, anthropology, literature, and art. It is written in lively, interactive, dialogical prose and will inevitably attract anyone interested in the place of ethics in human life, in both historical and contemporary contexts. * Nigel Pleasants, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter, United Kingdom, author of Wittgenstein and the Idea of Critical Social Theory Cecilia Eriksen’s stimulating study offers wonderful insights into the dynamics of moral change and a remedy for the belief in a unified explanation for this phenomenon. Eriksen combines careful philosophical reflection at a more abstract level with empirically informed discussions of concrete historical examples, making the resulting explanation of moral change precise, multifaceted, and responsive to the complexity of human moral life. This book will appeal to a wide range of readers including philosophers from different traditions, legal scholars, historians, and anthropologists. * Julia Herman, Lecturer, University of Twente, Netherlands, author of a book on moral certainty, justification, and practice: A Wittgensteinian perspective