Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics First Edition - Stephen Toulmin - Bauman Rare Books

Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics

Stephen TOULMIN

Item#: 100580 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics

"AN INTELLECTUAL GIANT, A TRUE RENAISSANCE MAN": FIRST EDITION OF PHILOSOPHER STEPHEN TOULMIN'S "TRAILBLAZING" FIRST BOOK, AN EXAMINATION OF THE PLACE OF REASON IN ETHICS

TOULMIN, Stephen. An Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics. Cambridge, [England]: University Press, 1950. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of the scarce first book by Toulmin, a leading thinker with John Rawls in "rule-utilitarianism," with Toulmin, influenced by Witttgenstein, arguing "if we want to understand questions of ethics, science and logic, we have to inquire into the everyday situations in which they arise” (New York Times).

Influential philosopher Stephen Toulmin “was an intellectual giant, a true Renaissance man… Like Wittgenstein, he believed that philosophy should not be a scholastic discipline, with philosophers just analyzing the works and arguments of other philosophers… He argued that if we want to understand questions of ethics, science and logic, we have to inquire into the everyday situations in which they arise” (New York Times). The Place of Reason in Ethics, Toulmin’s pivotal first book, is one of the "most important books in the ordinary language ethical philosophy" (Smith, Ethical and Religious Thought, 63). Toulmin, with John Rawls, is a leading thinker in what Richard Brandt calls “rule-utilitarianism.” Here Toulmin asserts "ethics is everybody's concern," and poses that when we ask “What is the right thing to do?… the only fact at issue is whether the action in question belongs to a class of actions generally approved of in the speaker’s community… What makes us call a judgment ‘ethical’ is the fact that it is used to harmonize people’s actions” (emphasis in original, 144-5). Toulmin's Place of Reason in Ethics was “trailblazing" (Encyclopedia of Ethics, 14).

Book fresh and clean; light edge-wear, mild toning to spine of dust jacket. A very scarce about-fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
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