From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis

by Frank Jackson

Frank Jackson champions the cause of conceptual analysis as central to philosophical inquiry. In recent years conceptual analysis has been undervalued and widely misunderstood, suggests Jackson. He argues that such analysis is mistakenly clouded in mystery, preventing a whole range of important questions from being productively addressed. He anchors his argument in discussions of specific philosophical issues, starting with the metaphysical doctrine of physicalism and moving on, via free will, meaning, personal identity, motion, and change, to ethics and the philosophy of color. In this way the book not only offers a methodological program for philosophy, but also casts new light on some much-debated problems and their interrelations.

Genres: Philosophy, Metaphysics

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Cooper Ackerly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*mutters darkly about disjunctive descriptive properties*

[Dario Vaccaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Jackson's "From Metaphysics to Ethics" is a dense, complex essay in analytic metaphilosophy and an equally dense and complex (albeit shorter) essay in the metaphysics of color and in the justification for the existence of moral concepts. Its greatest strength is undoubtedly found in its structure: the first half is devoted to display the so-called "Canberra plan" for philosophical inquiry: what philosophers must do is take concepts from the ordinary use of language (what he calls "folk" language) and refine them by exposing their hidden implications through the use of conceptual analysis. It is only in this way that we can have "serious" philosophy talk. It is obviously a controversial idea, but the arguments are quite strong and, to be fair, convincing.

The second half of the book is an enactment of his meta-theory on actual theories: first, the metaphysical theory of color; then, the foundations for moral concepts. The analysis turns very complex here, but at its core the method is exemplified quite well.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read the first half--which is a defense of conceptual analysis.