Theories of Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with a Selection of Classic Readings

401 Pages·2010·1.6 MB·English

by  Gordon Graham

Theories of Ethics: An Introduction to
Moral Philosophy with a Selection of
Classic Readings
This book offers a comprehensive survey of the major schools and figures in moral phi-
losophy, from Socrates to the present day. Written entirely in nontechnical language, it
aims to be introductory without being elementary, so that readers may quickly engage with
selected readings from classic sources. The writings of major philosophers are explained in
a structured exploration of recurrently important issues about right and wrong, good and
evil, and social relations and religious meaning.
The book is a radical revision of Gordon Graham’s Eight Theories of Ethics (Routledge
2004). A hallmark of the new edition is the incorporation of primary readings into the
text itself, making the book suitable as stand-alone publication for any ethics course or
for anyone wanting to know the history and arguments of moral philosophy. Primary
sources include those from Aristotle, Camus, Hume, Kant, Locke, Mill, Leopold, Lovelock,
Nietzsche, Plato, Reid, and Sartre. The new edition also offers new and/or extended treat-
ment of the objective/subjective debate, social contract theory, Nietzsche on morality, new
interpretations of Kant, the relation between morality and the existence of God, and a full
chapter on environmental ethics.
Gordon Graham is Henry Luce III Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at the Princeton
Theological Seminary.

Theories of Ethics
An Introduction to Moral Philosophy
with a Selection of Classic Readings
Gordon Graham
Princeton Theological Seminary
First published 2011
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the UK
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© 2011 Taylor & Francis
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Graham, Gordon, 1949 July 15–
Theories of ethics : an introduction to moral philosophy with a selection
of classic readings / Gordon Graham.
p. cm.
1. Ethics. I. Title.
BJ1025.G69 2010
171--dc22
2010024808
ISBN 0-203-83512-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99946–5 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99947–2 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–83512–8 (ebk)
For my daughter,
Kirsty

Contents
Preface xi
1. Ethics, Truth, and Reason 1
1.1 Right and Wrong 1
1.2 Relativism and Subjectivism 2
1.3 Proof and Probability 4
1.4 Moral Realism 5
1.5 Moral Rationalism 8
1.6 Objectivism 11
2. Contractualism: Moral Rules and Social Agreement 13
2.1 Justice and Beneficence 14
2.2 Promises and Contracts 15
2.3 John Locke and “Tacit” Consent 16
2.4 John Rawls and “Hypothetical” Consent 18
2.5 T. M. Scanlon and Unreasonable Rejection 20
2.6 Bernard Mandeville and The Fable of the Bees 22
3. Egoism 25
3.1 Egoism Versus Altruism 25
3.2 Psychological Egoism 26
3.3 Rational Egoism 28
3.4 Nietzsche and the Genealogy of Morality 29
3.5 The Nietzschean Ideal 31
3.6 Desires and Interests 34
4. Hedonism 37
4.1 Egoism and Hedonism 37
4.2 The Cyrenaics 38
4.3 The Epicureans 40
4.4 John Stuart Mill on Higher and Lower Pleasures 41
4.5 Sadistic Pleasures 43
4.6 Aristotle on Pleasure 44
5. Naturalism and Virtue 47
5.1 Eudaimonia and the Good 47
5.2 Human Nature as Rational Animal 49
viii (cid:129) Contents
5.3 Ethics, Ethology, and Evolution 50
5.4 Virtue Theory 52
5.5 The Natural as a Norm 53
5.6 Is the “Good for Man” Good? 55
5.7 Natural Good and Freedom 56
5.8 Summary 57
6. Existentialism 60
6.1 Kierkegaard and the Origins of Existentialism 61
6.2 Sartre and Radical Freedom 63
6.3 Anguish and Bad Faith 65
6.4 The Absurdity of Existence 68
6.5 Acting in Good Faith 69
6.6 The Creation of Value 70
6.7 Radical Freedom 73
6.8 Summary 75
7. Kantianism 77
7.1 Virtue and Happiness: “Faring Well” and “Doing Right” 77
7.2 Kant and the Good Will 79
7.3 David Hume and Practical Reason 82
7.4 Hypothetical and Categorical Imperatives 83
7.5 Pure Practical Reason and the Moral Law 85
7.6 Universalizability 87
7.7 Summary of Kant’s Philosophy 88
7.8 Act, Intention, and Outcome 89
7.9 The Universalizability Test 90
7.10 Duty for Duty’s Sake 92
7.11 Korsgaard on Kant 94
8. Utilitarianism 97
8.1 Utility and the Greatest Happiness Principle 97
8.2 Jeremy Bentham 98
8.3 Egotism, Altruism, and Generalized Benevolence 100
8.4 Act and Rule Utilitarianism 101
8.5 Utilitarianism and Consequentialism 103
8.6 Ascertaining Consequences 104
8.7 Assessment and Prescription 105
8.8 Consequentialism and Spontaneity 107
8.9 Act and Rule 107
8.10 Summary: Does the End Justify the Means? 109
8.11 The Nature of Happiness 110
8.12 Measuring Happiness 111
8.13 Distributing Happiness 112
8.13 Mill’s “Proof” and Preference Utilitarianism 114
8.14 Motivation and the Limitless Moral Code 116
Contents (cid:129) ix
9. Ethics and Environment 119
9.1 Extending the Moral Sphere 119
9.2 Pollution, Sustainability, and Climatic Change 121
9.3 The Land Ethic 123
9.4 Deep and Shallow Ecology 124
9.5 Wilderness 127
9.6 Nature and Gaia 129
10. Ethics, Religion, and the Meaning of Life 133
10.1 Morality and Ordinary Life 133
10.2 God and Good: Plato’s Euthyphro 136
10.3 Kant and the Harmony of Happiness and Virtue 138
10.4 Moral Action and Religious Practice 140
10.5 The Myth of Sisyphus 142
10.6 Subjective Value and Objective Purpose 143
10.7 Life, Time, and Eternity 145
10.8 Worship of the Sacred 147
Readings 151
Readings for Chapter 1 153
Treatise of Human Nature (excerpt) by David Hume 155
Essays on the Active Powers of Man (excerpt) by Thomas Reid 165
Readings for Chapter 2 173
“The Second Treatise of Government” (excerpt) by John Locke 175
“Of the Original Contract” by David Hume 182
“Justice as Fairness” by John Rawls 192
Readings for Chapter 3 209
The Republic (excerpt) by Plato 211
Twilight of the Idols (excerpt) by Friedrich Nietzsche 224
Readings for Chapter 4 233
“The Epicurean” by David Hume 235
Nicomachean Ethics (excerpt), Book X by Aristotle 239
“Letter to Menoeceus” by Epicurus 251
Readings for Chapter 5 257
Nicomachean Ethics (excerpt), Books I & II, Aristotle 259
Readings for Chapter 6 279
Existentialism and Humanism (excerpt), Jean-Paul Sartre 281
Readings for Chapter 7 291
Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals (excerpt) by Immanuel Kant 293