The importance of dedication
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this dissertation I develop a philosophical conception of an extraordinary kind of commitment, what I call "dedication, " that is exhibited in people like religious martyrs, those devoted to secular ideals, and others whose lives revolve around grand personal passions. The motivation for this project is two-fold: one, this kind of commitment is interesting because it is significantly valuable; two, analysis of dedication reveals insights into fundamental areas of ethical thought. I argue that dedication itself is intrinsically, invariably, and significantly valuable in virtue of its intimate relationship to a special and valuable mode of integrity that is disposed to persist in the face of adverse circumstances, what I call "robust" integrity. I argue that integrity is significantly valuable because it is tantamount to a disposition to what I call "self-endorsement, " or happiness with oneself and the way one leads one's life. And, robustness contributes further value to this by providing its bearer with the ground for what I call "self-assurance." This self-assurance brings peace of mind regarding one's future self-endorsement, and satisfaction with the quality of one's current self-endorsement. The general ethical upshots of this investigation are the following. The relation between dedication and robust integrity, a species of metaphysical sufficiency plausibly understood as realization, allows for intrinsic value to be inherited across its lines. Also, all instances of dedication appear to be organic unities, wholes whose value is not necessarily equal to the value of the sum of the parts, which helps to explain possible misevaluation of dedication. And, in the course of investigating whether the value of robust integrity and dedication translates into reasons for action, I uncover a puzzle the most plausible solution of which leads to far reaching consequences for practical reasons generally: particularly, value does not entail a reason for action, reasons for ends are holistic, and the concept of reasons "transmission" from ends to means is inapt, reasons "coordination" is more fitting.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Beals, William Michael |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Philosophy |
| Primary advisor | Bratman, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Bratman, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Anderson, R. Lanier |
| Thesis advisor | Hussain, Nadeem J. Z |
| Advisor | Anderson, R. Lanier |
| Advisor | Hussain, Nadeem J. Z |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | William Michael Beals. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Philosophy. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by William Michael Beals
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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