EPISODE · Jul 25, 2023 · 30 MIN
Living Together: Inventing Moral Science by David Schmidtz
from Full Trial Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & Politics · host Glenna Pagac
Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/678384 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Living Together: Inventing Moral Science Author: David Schmidtz Narrator: David De Vries Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hours 46 minutes Release date: July 25, 2023 Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics Publisher's Summary: Is moral philosophy more foundational than political theory? It is often assumed to be. David Schmidtz argues that the reverse is true: the question of how to live in a community is more fundamental than questions about how to live. This book questions whether we are getting to the foundations of human morality when we ignore contingent features of communities in which political animals live. Schmidtz contends that theorizing about how to live together should take its cue from contemporary moral philosophy's attempts to go beyond formal theory, and ask which principles have a history of demonstrably being organizing principles of actual thriving communities at their best. Ideals emerging from such research should be a distillation of social scientific insight from observable histories of successful community building. What emerges from ongoing testing in the crucible of life experience will be path-dependent in detail even if not in general outline, partly because any way of life is a response to challenges that are themselves contingent, path dependent, and in flux. Building on this view, Schmidtz argues that justice evolved as a device for grounding peace in the mutual recognition that everyone has their own life to live, and everyone has the right and the responsibility to decide for themselves what to want.
What this episode covers
Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/678384 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Living Together: Inventing Moral Science Author: David Schmidtz Narrator: David De Vries Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hours 46 minutes Release date: July 25, 2023 Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics Publisher's Summary: Is moral philosophy more foundational than political theory? It is often assumed to be. David Schmidtz argues that the reverse is true: the question of how to live in a community is more fundamental than questions about how to live. This book questions whether we are getting to the foundations of human morality when we ignore contingent features of communities in which political animals live. Schmidtz contends that theorizing about how to live together should take its cue from contemporary moral philosophy's attempts to go beyond formal theory, and ask which principles have a history of demonstrably being organizing principles of actual thriving communities at their best. Ideals emerging from such research should be a distillation of social scientific insight from observable histories of successful community building. What emerges from ongoing testing in the crucible of life experience will be path-dependent in detail even if not in general outline, partly because any way of life is a response to challenges that are themselves contingent, path dependent, and in flux. Building on this view, Schmidtz argues that justice evolved as a device for grounding peace in the mutual recognition that everyone has their own life to live, and everyone has the right and the responsibility to decide for themselves what to want.
NOW PLAYING
Living Together: Inventing Moral Science by David Schmidtz
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m
Nov 12, 2025 ·35m
Oct 17, 2025 ·40m