ISBN : 9780198744405
Philosophical ethics consists in the human endeavour to answer rationally the fundamental question of how we should live. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics explores the history of philosophical ethics in the western tradition from Homer until the present day. It provides a broad overview of the views of many of the main thinkers, schools, and periods, and includes in addition essays on topics such as autonomy and impartiality. The authors are international leaders in their field, and use their expertise and specialist knowledge to illuminate the relevance of their work to discussions in contemporary ethics. The essays are specially written for this volume, and in each case introduce the reader to the main lines of interpretation and criticism that have arisen in the professional history of philosophy over the past two or three decades.
Preface
List of Contributors
1. Homeric Ethics
2. Plato's Ethics
3. Aristotle's Ethics
4. Epicurus: Freedom, Death, and Hedonism
5. Cynicism and Stoicism
6. Ancient Scepticism
7. Platonic Ethics in Later Antiquity
8. Thomism
9. The Franciscans
10. Later Christian Ethics
11. Nature, Law, and Natural Law
12. Seventeenth Century Moral Philosophy: Self-Help, Self-Knowledge, and the Devil's Mountain
13. Rousseau and Ethics
14. Utilitarianism: Bentham and Rashdall
15. Rationalism
16. Rational Intuitionism
17. Moral Sense and Sentimentalism
18. Butler's Ethics
19. Hume's Place in the History of Ethics
20. Adam Smith
21. Kant's Moral Philosophy
22. Kantian Ethics
23. Post-Kantianism
24. Hegel and Marx
25. J. S. Mill
26. Sidgwick
27. British Idealist Ethics
28. Ethics in the Analytic Tradition
29. Free Will
30. Emotion and the Emotions
31. Happiness, Suffering, and Death
32. Autonomy
33. Egoism, Partiality, and Impartiality
34. Conscience, Guilt, and Shame
35. Moral Psychology and Virtue
36. Justice, Equality, and Rights
37. Styles of Moral Relativism: A Critical Family Tree
38. Moral Metaphysics
39. Constructing Practical Ethics
Index