Morality, Utilitarianism, and Rights

The essays reprinted in this collection span a period of almost 30 years and include many classic pieces in metaethical and normative ethical theory.

Richard B. Brandt (Author)

9780521425278, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 June 1992

404 pages
23.7 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.728 kg

Richard Brandt is one of the most eminent and influential of contemporary moral philosophers. His work has been concerned with how to justify what is good or right not by reliance on intuitions or theories about what moral words mean but by the explanation of moral psychology and the description of what it is to value something, or to think it immoral. His approach thus stands in marked contrast to the influential work of John Rawls. The essays reprinted in this collection span a period of almost 30 years and include many classic pieces in metaethical and normative ethical theory. The collection is aimed at both those moral philosophers familiar with Brandt's work and at those philosophers who may be largely unfamiliar with his work. The latter group will be struck by the lucid unpretentious style and the cumulative weight of Brandt's contributions to topics that remain at the forefront of moral philosophy.

Sources
1. Introductory comments
Part I. Metaethical Preliminaries: 2. Moral philosophy and the analysis of language
3. Rational desires
4. The explanation of moral language
5. Morality and its critics
6. Rationality, egoism, and morrality
Part II. Normative Ethics: Utilitarianism: 7. Some merits of one form of rule - utilitarianism
8. Fairness to indirect optimific theories in ethics
9. Two concepts of utility
Part III. Utilitarianism and Rights: 10. The concepts of a moral right and its function
11. Utilitarianism and moral rights
Part IV. Determinism, Excuses, and Character: 12. A utilitarian theory of excuses
13. A motivational theory of excuses in the criminal law
14. Traits of character: a conceptual analysis
15. The structure of virtue
Part V. Implications of Utilitarian Theory: 16. The morality and rationality of suicide
17. Utilitarianism and the rules of war
18. Public policy and life and death decisions regarding defective newborns
19. Utilitarianism and welfare legislation
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS]