History of Ethics

As the most recent addition to the Blackwell Readings in Philosophy series, History of Ethics: Essential Readings with Commentary brings together rich and varied excerpts of canonical work and contemporary scholarship to span the history of Western moral philosophy in one volume. Editors Star and Crisp, noted scholars in their fields, expertly introduce the readings to illuminate the main philosophical ideas and arguments in each selection, and connect them to broader themes. These detailed and incisive editorial commentaries make the primary source texts accessible to students while guiding them chronologically through the history of Western ethics.

Structured around a thematic table of contents divided into three distinct sections, History of Ethics charts patterns in the development of ethical thought across time to highlight connections between intellectual movements. Selections range from the work of well-known figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Mill to the work of philosophers often overlooked by such anthologies, including Butler, Smith, Sidgwick, Anscombe, Foot, and Frankena. Star and Crisp skillfully arrange the collection to connect readings to contemporary issues and interests by featuring examples such as Aquinas on self-defense and the doctrine of double effect, Kant on virtue, and Mill’s The Subjection of Women.

Written for students and scholars of ethics, History of Ethics is a comprehensive collection of readings with expert editorial commentary that curates the most important and influential work in the history of ethics in the Western world.

Keywords: Guide to history of ethics; resource to history of ethics; Plato; Gorgias and Republic; Plato’s Republic; Nicomachean Ethics; Epicurus Letter to Menoeceus leading doctrines; Epicurus Discourses and Enchiridion; Augustine Enchiridion; Aquinas Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica; Modern ethics; Hobbes Leviathan; Butler Fifteen Sermons; Hobbes A Dissertation Upon the Nature of Virtue; Hume A Treatise of Human Nature; Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiments; Kant Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals; Kant the Categorical Imperative; Bentham An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation; Mill Utilitarianism; Mill The Subjection of Women; Nietzsche The Genealogy of Morals; Sidgwick The Methods of Ethics, History of Philosophy, History Special Topics, History of Philosophy, History Special Topics