Jean-Marie Guyau on Morality and Life

Keith Ansell-Pearson, Federico Testa

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Jean-Marie Guyau is an unjustifiably forgotten figure in the history of ethics. This chapter examines Guyau's contribution to moral philosophy in the light of his philosophy of life. It begins by showing how he seeks to ground ethics by focusing on the dynamics of life, notably the trend of life's activity in its aspect of fecundity. It then analyses Guyau's engagement with Kant as the modern thinker who challenged the transcendent positive content of the moral law, and who sought in the individual and his self-legislating capacity a new ground for moral action. The chapter also examines Guyau's critique of a morality of pleasure from the perspective of his philosophy of life in showing that, for Guyau, hedonists and utilitarians mistakenly focus on the end of moral action and neglect its efficient cause: life itself.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Modern French Philosophy
EditorsDaniel Whistler, Mark Sinclair
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter9
Pages138-150
Number of pages13
ISBN (Electronic)9780198914587
ISBN (Print)9780198841869
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jul 2024

Keywords

  • Anomy
  • Ethics
  • Fecundity
  • Moral variability
  • Philosophy of life

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