Ethical Habits

Aaron Massecar is an independent scholar and consultant.

• Introduction1. The Trouble with Theory and Practice2. Preparing a Place for a Peircean Ethics3. Intelligent Habits4. The Metaphysics of Habits5. Thinking of Habits6. Self-Controlled HabitsConclusionBibliography

In Ethical Habits: A Peircean Perspective, Aaron Massecar has taken on the worthwhile adventure of seeing how Peirce’s normative (theoretical) ethics might be put to work. He explores a wide range of Peircean texts to make his case for critical self-control in the development of human habits. The result is a persuasive story that reveals the nuances in Peirce’s thought and shows a creative dimension in establishing our moral habits and in pursuing human virtues. The Aristotelian-influenced Peirce of Massecar’s work is quite unlike the mechanical, deliberative Peirce others have promoted. Massecar’s work provides a nice opening for those who want to explore all of Peirce’s normative sciences for their everyday usefulness. And as an historical approach to the ethics of the pragmatists, this book makes a nice companion to Gregory Pappas’s John Dewey’s Ethics.