49 - Stephen Darwall: The History of Modern Ethics

Stephen Darwall is Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan. He is a world-renowned moral philosopher who has worked broadly across the ethical landscape, making important contributions to Kant scholarship, legal philosophy, deontology, and countless other areas. Steve and Robinson discuss the history of modern ethics, beginning with Hugo Grotius and traveling up through Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Smith before ending with Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche’s attack on morality. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/robinsonerhardt Outline: 00:00 In This Episode 00:22 Introduction 4:04 Steve’s Time at Yale 12:39 Ethics and Normativity 19:56 Hugo Grotius and the Birth of Modern Ethics 30:18 Hobbes on Morality 39:33 Hume on Morality 45:56 Kant on Morality 54:59 Jeremy Bentham on Morality 58:31 Adam Smith on Morality 1:10:51 A Brief Diatribe on Google 1:16:28 The Continental/Analytic Divide 1:23:17 Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche’s Attack on Morality 1:35:21 Are Moral Philosophers Moral?