It is not only in our dark hours that scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism dog ethics. Whether it is a matter of giving to charity, or sticking to duty, or insisting on our rights, we can be confused, or be paralysed by the fear that our principles are groundless. Many are afraid that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish and tribalistic, or competitive and aggressive. Simon Blackburn, author of the best-selling Think, structures this short introduction around these and other threats to ethics. Confronting seven different objections to our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures, he charts a course through the philosophical quicksands that often engulf us. Then, turning to problems of life and death, he shows how we should think about the meaning of life, and how we should mistrust the sound-bite sized absolutes that often dominate moral debates. Finally he offers a critical tour of the ways the philosophical tradition has tried to provide foundations for ethics, from Plato and Aristotle through to contemporary debates.
| ISBN | 0192853775 | | Pages | 172 | | ISBN13 | 9780192853776
(What's this?) | | Volumes | 1 | | Publisher | Oxford University Press | | Weight (grammes) | 170 | | Imprint | Oxford Paperbacks | | Published in | Oxford | | Format | Paperback | | Previous ISBN | 9780192100528 | | Publication date | 14 Mar 2002 | | Height (mm) | 171 | | Library of Congress | BJ | | Width (mm) | 118 | | DEWEY | 170 | | Spine width (mm) | 19 | | DEWEY edition | DC21 | | Academic level | General |
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Preface; List of Illustrations; Introduction; SEVEN THREATS TO ETHICS; 1. The Threat of the Death of God; 2. The Threat of Relativism; 3. The Threat of Egoism; 4. The Threat from Evolutionary Theory; 5. The Threat of Determinism and Futility; 6. The Threat of Unreasonable Demands; 7. The Threat of False Consciousness; SOME ETHICAL IDEAS; 8. Birth; 9. Death; 10. Desire and the Meaning of Life; 11. Pleasure; 12. The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number; 13. Freedom from the Bad; 14. Freedom and Paternalism; 15. Rights and Natural Rights; FOUNDATIONS?; 16. Reasons and Foundations; 17. Living Well and Doing Good; 18. The Categorical Imperative; 19. Contracts and Discourse; 20. The Common Point of View; 21. Confidence Restored; Further Reading; Index
"A brief introduction to ethics, one that plays lightly and gracefully over a number of philosophical themes, including the relationship between being good and living well."--Jim Holt, The New Yorker
"A slender but rich meditation on why humans should choose to behave well when the possibilities for doing evil are so abundant.... Highly accessible, and highly rewarding."--Kirkus
"Simon Blackburn's short book takes the big moral questions head on and does so brilliantly...a witty, vivid write with an enviable popular touch...this is a wonderfully enlightening book."--Ben Rogers, Sunday Telegraph
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