Essays on Henry Sidgwick

Considers the full range of Sidgwick's work in ethics and other areas.

Bart Schultz (Edited by)

9780521391511, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 January 1992

440 pages
23.7 x 16 x 3 cm, 0.734 kg

"...nearly all of the essays will be interesting and accessible to the non-philosopher whose interests may not be confined to Sidgwick's ethical thought....The editor hopes that this collection will not only 'press forward with serious work on Sidgwick's ethical theory' but also 'extend the scope of Sidgwick studies to get a better sense of his thought as a whole.' For the most part, this volume is successful in both aims." Michele M. Moody-Adams, Victorian Studies

The dominant moral philosophy of nineteenth-century Britain was utilitarianism, beginning with Bentham and ending with Sidgwick. Though once overshadowed by his immediate predecessors in that tradition (especially John Stuart Mill), Sidgwick is now regarded as a figure of great importance in the history of moral philosophy. Indeed his masterpiece, The Methods of Ethics (1874), has been described by John Rawls as the 'most philosophically profound' of the classical utilitarian works. In this volume a distinguished group of philosophers reassesses the full range of Sidgwick's work, not simply his ethical theory, but also his contributions as a historian of philosophy, a political theorist, and a reformer.

Foreword J. B. Schneewind
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Introduction: Henry Sidgwick today Bart Schultz
Part I. Common-Sense Morality, Deontology, Utilitarianism: 1. Sidgwick and nineteenth-century British ethical thought Marcus G. Singer
2. Sidgwick and the Cambridge moralists J. B. Schneewind
3. Sidgwick and Whewellian intuitionism: some enigmas Alan Donagan
4. Common sense at the foundations Russell Hardin
Part II. Egoism, Dualism, Identity: 5. Sidgwick's pessimism J. L. Mackie
6. Sidgwick and the history of ethical dualism William K. Frankena
7. Sidgwick and the rationale for rational egoism David O. Brink
8. Sidgwick on ethical judgment John Deigh
Part III. Hedonism, Good, Perfection: 9. Sidgwick on desire, pleasure, and the good Thomas Christiano
10. Eminent Victorians and Greek ethics: Sidgwick, Green, and Aristotle T. H. Irwin
11. The attractive and the imperative: Sidgwick's view of Greek ethics Nicholas P. White
Part IV. History, Politics, Pragmatism: 12. The ordinary experience of civilized life: Sidgwick's politics and the method of reflective analysis Stefan Collini
13. Rethinking tradition: Sidgwick and the philosophy of the via media James T. Kloppenberg
Index.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]