Ebook: The Morality of Pluralism

Kekes has taken on a noble task. The oft overlooked (and certainly most reasonable) ethical philosophy is neither monism (there is one ideal concept of the good) or relativism (there is no ideal conception of the good) but pluralism (there are many ideal conceptions of the good). Here, Kekes gives this under-represented philosophy a chance to shine.

As the author notes, the book draws its main inspiration from two key pluralists of the past - Michael Oakeshott and Isaiah Berlin. He starts with a broad sketch of what pluralism is and, in brief, offers a defense against monism and relativism.

From there, he outlays the six key elements of pluralism: there are a plurality of values, they will at times inevitably conflict, the resolving through reason of those conflicts, the importance of moral imagination (putting yourself in the other's shoes), the moral possibilities needed for life, the need for limits from within and without and the prospect of a pluristic moral progress.

The next chapters are spent one each devoted to one of these principles. The key is that while monism aims at one ideal of the good life and uses reason to get there, and relativism denies anything but a ideal that is relative (to culture, class, history, etc.) and foregoes reason to get there, pluralism takes the best of both. There are a plurality of good things and values, they conflict much of the time, but we can use reason to find our way, i.e. there are a plurality of good ways to live and they are all rational.

This is an alright book, well written and the concept is well explored. Kekes is a bit repetitive (even in his 217 pages. As his six 'principles' overlap a bit, each chapter says slightly what the other did; still, there is plenty of info here. Especially as he devotes equal time to statement and defense.