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Understood one way, the branch of contemporary philosophical ethics that goes by the label "metaethics" concerns certain second-order questions about ethics-questions not in ethics, but rather ones about our thought and talk about ethics, and how the ethical facts (insofar as there are any) fit into reality. Analogously, the branch of contemporary philosophy of law that is often called "general jurisprudence" deals with certain second order questions about law- questions not in the law, but rather ones about our thought and talk about the law, and how legal facts (insofar as there are any) fit into reality. Put more roughly (and using an alternative spatial metaphor), metaethics concerns a range of foundational questions about ethics, whereas general jurisprudence concerns analogous questions about law. As these characterizations suggest, the two sub-disciplines have much in common, and could be thought to run parallel to each other. Yet, the connections between the two are currently mostly ignored by philosophers, or at least under-scrutinized. The new essays collected in this book are aimed at changing this state of affairs. Dimensions of Normativity collects together works by metaethicists and legal philosophers that address a number of issues that are of common interest, with the goal of accomplishing a new rapprochement between the two sub-disciplines.
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Dimensions of Normativity
Dimensions of Normativity N EW E S SAYS O N M ETA ETH ICS AND J URISPRUDE N C E
Edited by David Plunkett Scott J. Shapiro and Kevin Toh
1 Dimensions of Normativity. David Plunkett, Scott J. Shapiro, and Kevin Toh. © Oxford University Press 2019. Published 2019 by Oxford University Press.
1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Plunkett, David, editor. | Shapiro, Scott J., editor. | Toh, Kevin, editor. Title: Dimensions of normativity: new essays on metaethics and jurisprudence / edited by David Plunkett, Scott J. Shapiro, Kevin Toh. Description: New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018031202 | ISBN 9780190640408 ((hardback): alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Law—Philosophy. | Jurisprudence. | Normativity (Ethics) | Law—Moral and ethical aspects. | Metaethics. Classification: LCC K235 .D53 2018 | DDC 340/.112—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031202 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed by LSC Communications, United States of America Note to Readers This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is based upon sources believed to be accurate and reliable and is intended to be current as of the time it was written. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, acc