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The Society for Empirical Ethics Homepage
THE SOCIETY FOR EMPIRICAL ETHICS
This is the website of the Society for Empirical Ethics. It presents work that defines and elaborates the purpose of the society. In general that purpose is to foster a dialogue between philosophy and the social sciences around the issue of human flourishing, using empirical knowledge to give contemporary muscle and specific determination to this old Aristotelian idea.
Available now is a paper, "Being Human, Naturally," by Robert Halliday, one of the society's founders, and also the introduction to The Harmony of the Soul, a book by Neal Weiner, another of the society's founders. These two pieces will offer some idea of what we are about. The introduction to Harmony provides a broad historical perspective on the relation of fact and value in western philosophy. The book was published by SUNY in l993 and offers a complete philosophical scheme for a psychodynamic approach to human flourishing. "Being Human, Naturally" was presented at the 2000 meetings of the American Philosophical Association,
Eastern Division. It argues for the need to see beyond the apparent dichotomy between
external moral absolutes on the one hand and moral chaos on the other.
The author argues that a concept of human flourishing which draws on
contemporary empirical research can provide moral goals rooted in
naturalistic assumptions."
Harmony of the Soul, Introduction
Being Human, Naturally
The society is sponsoring a conference on the subject of human flourishing this Nov. 7-9 at Marlboro College in Vermont. Click here for the conference schedule and other information.
Click here for brief biographies of list members and their interests. Who We Are
The constitution of the society is also available.