Reason and Emotion in the Ethics of Self-Restraint

In this essay I argue that Reinhold Niebuhr's ethics of self-restraint, though promising, is based on an incomplete and imprecise moral psychology. Although Niebuhr claims that reason cannot provide a sufficient grounding to motivate self-restraint, he does not disclose which human capacity mig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religious ethics
Main Author: Morris, Daniel A. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2014
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2014, Volume: 42, Issue: 3, Pages: 495-515
Further subjects:B David Hume
B Feminism
B Emotion
B Self-restraint
B Reinhold Niebuhr
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Summary:In this essay I argue that Reinhold Niebuhr's ethics of self-restraint, though promising, is based on an incomplete and imprecise moral psychology. Although Niebuhr claims that reason cannot provide a sufficient grounding to motivate self-restraint, he does not disclose which human capacity might serve this purpose. I suggest that we can address this oversight by strengthening Niebuhr's tentative embrace of David Hume, and by developing a concept of the emotions in order to explain how human beings can cultivate a stable inclination to self-restraint. This project is informed by and in the service of feminist critiques of Niebuhr and social concerns.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jore.12067