This book explores moral questions that go beyond the issues commonly considered in the ethics of action. Can there be an ethics of emotion or an ethics of fantasy? If what we feel and what we think are beyond the direct control of our will, does it make sense to set norms or standards for us to aim at in those spheres, or does anything go? What are the limits of our freedom? And what are the sources of our standards? Are they themselves a matter of arbitrary feeling or do there exist authorities we might turn to in order to find our way? We are told that authenticity is valuable, that we must ... More

This book explores moral questions that go beyond the issues commonly considered in the ethics of action. Can there be an ethics of emotion or an ethics of fantasy? If what we feel and what we think are beyond the direct control of our will, does it make sense to set norms or standards for us to aim at in those spheres, or does anything go? What are the limits of our freedom? And what are the sources of our standards? Are they themselves a matter of arbitrary feeling or do there exist authorities we might turn to in order to find our way? We are told that authenticity is valuable, that we must be true to ourselves. Is the self and what it wants the ultimate source of value? (Even the nastier parts of our natures?) How are we to determine which aspects of ourselves are essential and demand and deserve expression? Are there competing and conflicting sources of value? The claims of Plato, Freud, Sartre, and other important thinkers are considered, criticized, and brought into play in the service of greater self-understanding and understanding of what matters and what is up to us. Throughout, the insights and approaches of law, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and other disciplines in addition to philosophy are put to use. The chapters in this collection draw on and develop earlier work on emotions and moral identity in the Spinozist hope that greater self-understanding, because of the special features of reflexive-knowledge, can lead to greater freedom, making us better able to live with others and with ourselves.