Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction:

The Love of Wisdom

Process

Proof

Definition

Praxis

Pedagogy

Conclusion

1 Who Mourns for Adonais?

Or, Where Have All the Gods Gone?

1.1 Encounter with Adonais

1.2 Methodological Orientation

1.3 Creator Gods

1.4 Ruler Gods

1.5 Progressive Synthesis

1.6 Nostalgic Reminders

1.7 Requiem for Adonais

1.8 Relevance of Precedents: Syncretism or Parallelomania?

Appendix: Tables

2 No More This than That:

Skeptical Impression or Pyrrhonian Dogma?

2.1 Epistemic Journey

2.2 Evidentiary Context

2.3 Conceptual Perspective

2.4 Practical Perspective

2.5 Deep Disagreement

2.6 Conclusion

3 Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me:

The Alleged Prisoner’s Dilemma in Hobbes’s Social Contract

3.1 Overview

3.2 Problem

3.3 Analysis

3.4 Solution

3.5 Conclusion

4 Kant’s Neglected Alternative:

Neither Neglected nor an Alternative

4.1 Overview

4.2 Problem

4.3 Analysis

4.4 Solution

4.5 Evaluation

4.6 Conclusion

5 What’s So Good About the Good Will?

An Ontological Critique of Kant’s Axiomatic Moral Construct

5.1 Overview

5.2 The Good Will as a Qualified Concept

5.3 The Good Will and the Highest Good

5.4 The Problem with Axiomatic Qualification

6 Rawls’s Justification Model for Ethics:

What Exactly Does It Justify?

6.1 Overview

6.2 Critical Context

6.3 Application Bias

6.4 System Sterility

6.5 Broader Context

6.6 Conclusion

7 Rawls’s Justification Model for Ethics:

What Exactly Justifies the Model?

7.1 Overview

7.2 Critical Context

7.3 Defensive Strategy

7.4 Possible Objections

7.5 Conclusion

8 Angelique:

An Angel in Distress, Morality in Crisis

8.1 Overview

8.2 Literary Interpretation

8.3 Philosophical Appraisal

8.4 Critical Reception

8.5 Conclusion

Works Cited

Index