Russell and Pigden On Ethical Theory
1999; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/rss.1999.0006
ISSN1913-8032
Autores Tópico(s)Ethics in medical practice
Resumo~views RUSSELL AND PIGDEN ON ETHICAL THEORY KENNETH BLACKWELL BLACKWK@MCMASTER.CA Charles R. Pigden, ed. Russell on Ethics: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell London and New York: Routledge, 1999. Pp. xiv, 257. Hardbound: £4°.00; uS$65.00. Paperbound: £12.99; US$20·99; C$3I.99· ISBN: ° 415 15660 2. Russell on Ethics is the subject of several hopeful claims in the editor's introduction. One is that "this book will provide an entertaining introduction to the chief problems of ethical theory and, specifically, meta-ethics" (p. xii). Most people are used to authorial hyperbole, but in this case the editor's claim is well founded. Russell on Ethics is an ambitious book. Philosophical anthologies have always tried to teach their authors' thought, but Russell on Ethics does more: it succeeds in teaching Russell's thought and the subject on which the selections are based, metaethics. The first achievement is multifaceted. The book opens up research on Russell on this topic and provides most (but not all) of the primary texts for such research. E.g., Pigden explores the reciprocal influence of Moore and Russell through his discovery (pp. IO, 72) that §§13 and 26 of Principia Ethica are (partly) in reaction to Russell's views, which Moore knew well from Apostolic meetings. Quantitatively, the text is as much Pigden 's as Russell's. I congratulate the joint author on devising a book that both provides original guided research into Russell's metaethical writings and teaches ethical theory. I, for one, would like to have his commentary extended to the full range of those writings. The author of a great deal of normative writing, Russell also published a good deal on metaethics.1 Proportionately to what he wrote on other topics at the time, Russell wrote more on ethical theory in his twenties than later. I Given the immensity of Russell's output, this statement is consistent with Nicholas Griffin's that "He wrote relatively little on ethics" (Concise Routledge Encyclopedia ofPhilosophy [London and New York: 2000]), p. 780. russell: th~ Journal of B~rtrand Russell S[Udi~s McMaster Univ~rsity Pr~s n.s. 19 (wimer 1999-2000): 2.03-6 ISSN 0036-01631 204 Reviews However, his thought developed, and there are major papers or chapters marking almost every new position with which he experimented. In his 60S and 70S he undertook a major research project to try to make his noncognitivism objectively valid. All this took place without his having what might be called a professional interest in the theory of ethics. There is no record of his teaching the subject, except incidentally in teaching the history of philosophy, and he did not publish on the subject in academic journals.2. Instead, ethical theory was .a personal interest as he tried to attain certain knowledge of fundamental values. This makes the history of Russell's metaethical thought part of his personal and, as should become clear, even his political biography. Pigden's approach is to preface each selection or extract with informative, pointed and witty commentary. These headnotes can be as long as the extracts. Pigden's frequent references to current literature indicate where theory has developed since Russell propounded his, and also trace Russell's anticipations of landmark publications such as Mackie's "The Refutation of Morals". The selections are arranged, for the most part, in two chronological sections. The first serious piece is one that Russell wrote for and gave to Alys Pearsall Smith before they became engaged. It remained possibly unread in her papers until twenty years ago, and possibly forgotten by Russell after the turn of the centuty. This paper, and those that follow it, assume the reader is attuned to current ethical controversies, and the reader will definitely benefit from first reading the introduction. Russell's expository powers improve immensely as his ethical thought matures, and that is one sure, and delightful , reward for reading further in this volume. Pigden includes some selections on Russell's normative ethic of impersonal self-enlargement. There is an extract from the chapter on Spinoza in the History ofWestern Philosophy. However, he could have illustrated both normative ethics and metaethics by...
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