Moral Anatomy and Moral Reasoning Robert V. Hannaford 208 pages, 6 x 9 Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-0607-8, $29.95 Robert Hannaford's book answers two fundamental questions: How do we come to do what is morally demanded of us--i.e., what compels us into "acceptable acts"? And, how does our being moral emerge from what we are and how we are related to each other? Hannaford shows that doing (reasoning and acting morally) and being (our "moral anatomy" or essential nature) do not exist in a vacuum but are rooted in community, in our relations with others. Moral reasoning, he argues, focuses on what we ought to do in a situation where we must consider the needs, desires, and expectations of others. "It's about doing," he explains. "We provide food and water for the victims of an urban riot or a nearby natural disaster, and when we are met by a lost child, we try to help it in finding its parents. As responsible people we [make] choices that we believe can be shown to be acceptable to others in the community. What is morally correct must reflect the judgment of the moral community." Rejecting relativists who claim the impossibility of universal moral values, Hannaford develops a theory based on a variation of the Golden Rule. He demonstrates how our natural responsiveness to others' feelings and sufferings, our concern for other persons "conceived as like ourselves" lies at the heart of our moral anatomy and moral reasoning and ultimately guides our moral actions. "A dazzling and, at times, masterful display of common sense in moral philosophy. This is a work of genuine philosophical vision that has both power and depth of insight. It brings together and brings to bear upon one another a wealth of insights about the human condition-displaying the right sort of sensitivities to matters at nearly every juncture."--Laurence Thomas, author of Living Morally: A Psychology of Moral Character "The broad sweep of the author's argument moves the discussion of moral motivation beyond the old debates about philosophical egoism into such contemporary contexts as the inherently interpersonal character of human language and the inevitably trans-cultural presuppositions of moral evaluations between cultures."--Thomas Wren, author of Caring about Morality: Philosophical Perspectives in Moral Psychology "This is a penetrating analysis of why attempts to explain moral reasoning in terms of what rationally self-interested individuals can publicly advocate are bound to fail. Instead, Hannaford introduces the notion of 'moral anatomy,' which places moral reasoning within the network of socially oriented attitudes, motives, and interpersonal relationships that make sense of who we are as persons and as members of moral communities. He effectively supports his thesis by showing that even in very early childhood, our emerging moral anatomy reveals moral reasoning at work."--Michael S. Pritchard, author of On Becoming Responsible ROBERT HANNAFORD is professor of philosophy at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. He is editor of Concept Formation and the Explanation of Behavior.   Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586