An Individual Reality, Separate from Oneself: Alienation and Sociality in Moral Theory

Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy (online 2021)

18 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2022

See all articles by Jack Samuel

Jack Samuel

New York University (NYU), School of Law

Date Written: July 1, 2021

Abstract

I argue that the social dimension of alienation, as discussed by Williams and Railton, has been underappreciated. The lesson typically drawn from their exchange is that moral theory poses a threat to the internal integrity of the agent, but there is a parallel risk that moral theory will implicitly construe agents as constitutively alienated from one another. I argue that a satisfying account of agency will need to make room for what I call ‘genuine ethical contact’ with others, both as concrete objects in the world external to ourselves and as subjects who can recognize us reciprocally.


Published version available here.

Suggested Citation

Samuel, Jack, An Individual Reality, Separate from Oneself: Alienation and Sociality in Moral Theory (July 1, 2021). Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy (online 2021), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4255864 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4255864

Jack Samuel (Contact Author)

New York University (NYU), School of Law ( email )

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