Acknowledgments
A Note to the Reader
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Is There an Absolute Value?
Chapter Three: Must We Conform?
Chapter Four: Do We Owe What Our Country Asks of Us?
Chapter Five: Is Justice Necessary?
Chapter Six: How Should We Respond to Evil?
Chapter Seven: Is it Right to Forgive Wrong Actions?
Chapter Eight: Is Shame Good?
Chapter Nine: Should We Be True to Who We Are?
Chapter Ten: Do Good Intentions Justify Bad Actions?
Chapter Eleven: Should Moral Evaluations Be Overriding?
Chapter Twelve: Conclusion
John Kekes is the author of many books, including The Roots of Evil (Cornell University Press), Enjoyment (OUP), The Human Condition (OUP), and How Should We Live? (Chicago University Press). He has been visiting professor in Canada, England, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Singapore, and the United States Military Academy.
"Hard Questions is a literate and compelling example of the sort of
adventure Kekes is recommending philosophers and the rest of us to
undertake." -- Philosophy
"This extraordinary book of practical philosophy is carefully
organized, clearly written, and filled with illuminating
discussions of compelling examples. Kekes presses gently,
relentlessly, and provocatively for the irreducible plurality of
conflicting values within our lives, and the absence of any
absolute value, abstract moral principle, or controlling moral
commitment that resolves those conflicts in hard cases. His remedy
for this is equally clear, and
equally provocative."--Lawrence C. Becker, Kenan Professor Emeritus
of Philosophy, College of William and Mary, and author of
Habilitation, Health, and Agency: A Framework for Basic Justice
"This book poses questions of ethics, broadly-construed, but they
involve metaphysics (for example, duties to God, questions about
the origins of evil, whether the cosmos is just) and epistemology.
John Kekesâs focus is on reasons for different answers to each
question. He writes with such sympathy and wisdom that readers can
see both sides, with two opposing answers to each question often as
good for the person or group that holds them. This is a
well-written and smart book, and the reader will know herself in
the hands of a learned and thoughtful guide."--Owen Flanagan, James
B. Duke Professor of Philosophy, Duke University
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