你的最高理想是什么？你有自己的生活法典吗？我们知道每一个人都会有不同的回答。艺术家、科学家、社会工作者、农夫、企业家或者运动员都有不同的理想指导他们的生活决定。所以，为什么这几百年来哲学家会想要用同样的一个理想运用在所有人身上，不论是谁、在哪里、什么时刻？好几世纪的辩论之后，我们还是没有任何结论。
在这本书中，作者John Kekes提供给读者一个新鲜、非主流的选择。他希望我们可以避开绝对的理想，一天一天地过我们地生活，根据不同情况的改变以及无可预测的障碍来做出决定。我们不要再被书里面学到的理想哲学绑住，反而要找到比较实用的方式来做一个有道德的人。我们世界里有太多的变数以及意外，实在很难用古老的道德理念来指示自己的生活。
书中的第2到第10章每一章的开头都是一个故事，关于一个真实人物以及他在他的平凡生活中遇见的冲突。这些都是作者听过的故事，只是他改变了名字或者重要讯息来保护当事人。这些冲突不是任何关于生死或者善恶，或者社会问题（比如堕胎、死刑、贩毒等等）。这些冲突是非常日常生活，存在我们内心的冲突）比如如何控制脾气、如何善用时间或金钱）。作者会提供一个解决问题的实用理想哲学，并讨论如何应用在这个问题上。这是一本实用，但还是很有深度的道德哲学书。
关于作者：
John Kekes是纽约州立大学阿尔巴尼大学的荣誉退休哲学教授。他写过许多本书，包括：The Human Condition、Enjoyment: The Moral Significance of Syles of Life以及The Enlargement of Life: Moral Imagination at Work。
评语：
Ann Hartle
“Innumerable horrors, especially of the last century, can be traced to the frame of mind that is willing to sacrifice everything for an ideal. Kekes takes apart the claims that are made in favor of different ideals and demonstrates that ideals cannot tell us what to do, since it is theevaluation of our conflicting beliefs, emotions, and motives that matters—and appealing to a single, overriding ideal does little to aid in this evaluation. This is a work of sound, extensive, and thorough scholarship.”
Paul Hollander
“A highly original, sober, and forcefully argued book that takes on the major question that confronts all of us. It offers realistic alternatives to both moral absolutism and moral relativism. Focused on the variety of inevitable conflicts human beings experience, Kekes suggests ways to cope with them without expecting to eliminate them altogether. Central to the book is a persuasive critique of ‘ideal theories,’ which claim that it is possible to lead a moral and meaningful life free of conflicts. This is an especially enlightening study for Americans inclined to believe that all conflicts can be resolved by people of goodwill and that all important human aspirations and values can be reconciled.”
Mike W. Martin
“Practical intelligence is contextual, flexible, attuned to myriad conflicting goods, and pluralistic in spirit. Nearly all contemporary theories about good lives formally acknowledge these complexities. In fact, as Kekes argues incisively, many famous theories still contain implausible and dangerous commitments to universal overriding ideals. He returns us to the richness of practical approaches to practical dilemmas. A provocative and wise book.”
目录：
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
The Problem and the Project
Conflicts
Real Lives
Ideal Theories
The Argument
2 Absolutist Morality
The School Teacher
Absolutist Morality
Commitments
Overriding Commitments?
A Dilemma
3 Individual Autonomy
The Lawyer
Autonomy
Misguided Theorizing
The Divided Self
Ambivalence and Understanding
4 Reflective Self-Evaluation
The Dutiful Man
Self-Evaluation
Real Lives and Ideal Theory
Contingency
Justification
5 UnconditionAl Love
The Father
Love
Problems
Sentimentalism
Love within Reason
6 Strong Evaluation
The Nurse
Strong Evaluation
Doubts
Capacity or Activity?
Fact or Ideal?
Loss
7 NarrativE Unity
The Civil Servant
The Narrative Ideal
Criticism
Are Narratives Reliable?
The Ideal and the Real
8 Practical Reason
The Divided Woman
Practical Reason
Complexities
All Things Considered
What Reason Requires and Allows
9 Inescapable Reflection
The Dean
Reflection
Knowledge
Confidence
The Route Back
10 Necessary Truthfulness
The Betrayed Woman
Genealogy
Criticisms
Vindicatory Genealogies
Subversive Genealogies
The Very Idea of Genealogies
Truthfulness and the Practical Approach
11 Conclusion
The Practical Approach
The Error of Omission
Impracticality
Implausibility
Notes
Bibliography
Index
- 我们该如何生活？一个实用在日常生活中的道德观念
- How Should We Live? A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO EVERYDAY MORALITY
- 作者：John Kekes
- 出版社代理人：University of Chicago Press
- 出版时间：2014年9月
- 页数：264页
- 已售版权：
- 版权联系人：tina@peonyliteraryagency.com
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