Sidgwick's ethics and Victorian moral philosophy /

This analysis of Sidgwick's 'Methods of Ethics' discusses why Sidgwick made his philosophy a synthesis of his predecessors' work. The second part involves a commentary on the main topics of 'Methods', while the third part examines Sidgwick's critique of the two mai...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schneewind, J. B. (Jerome B.), 1930-2024 (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford ; New York : Clarendon Press, 1977.
Series:Oxford scholarly classics.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Table of Contents:
  • Intro
  • Preface
  • Contents
  • Texts and References
  • Introduction
  • PART I: TOWARDS THE METHODS OF ETHICS
  • 1. The Development of Sidgwick's Thought
  • i. Sidgwick's Life
  • ii. Religion in the 1860s
  • iii. Sidgwick's Religious Development
  • iv. Sidgwick's Writings on Religion
  • v. Sidgwick's Early Ethical Views
  • vi. Sidgwick on Knowledge and Philosophy
  • 2. Intuitionism and Common Sense
  • i. Reid's Ethics
  • ii. The Scottish School
  • iii. Thomas Brown
  • iv. Alexander Smith
  • 3. The Cambridge Moralists
  • i. Coleridge
  • ii. The Coleridgeans
  • iii. Whewell's Ethics: The System
  • iv. Whewell's Ethics: The Difficulties
  • v. John Grote
  • 4. The Early Utilitarians
  • i. Utility and Religion
  • ii. Bentham
  • iii. Godwin
  • iv. Early Criticism
  • 5. The Reworking of Utilitarianism
  • i. Utilitarians and Rules
  • ii. J. S. Mill: Philosophy and Society
  • iii. Some Further Criticisms of Utilitarianism
  • iv. The Other Utilitarians
  • v. Mill's Utilitarianism and its Reception
  • PART II: THE METHODS OF ETHICS
  • 6. The Aims and Scope of The Methods of Ethics
  • i. The Focus on Common Sense
  • ii. The Relation of Method to Principle
  • iii. The Basic Methods
  • iv. Ethics, Epistemology, and Psychology
  • v. Ethics and Free Will
  • vi. The Limits to Synthesis
  • 7. Reason and Action
  • i. The Basic Notion
  • ii. Reason, Right, Ought, and Good
  • iii. The Neutrality of Practical Concepts
  • iv. Scepticism
  • Appendix: The Development of I, iii and I, ix
  • 8. Acts and Agents
  • i. Martineau's Theory
  • ii. The Religious Context of Martineau's Theory
  • iii. Sidgwick's Criticisms: The Data
  • iv. Sidgwick's Criticisms: The Theory
  • v. The Outcome of the Controversy
  • 9. The Examination of Common-Sense Morality
  • i. The Role of the Examination
  • ii. The Principles of the Examination
  • iii. Common Sense Examined.
  • Iv. The Dependence Argument
  • 10. The Self-Evident Axioms
  • i. Some Methodological Concerns
  • ii. The Axioms Stated
  • iii. The Source and Function of the Axioms
  • iv. Axioms and Substantive Principles
  • 11. The Transition to Utilitarianism
  • i. Virtue and the Ultimate Good
  • ii. Pleasure
  • iii. Pleasure and the Ultimate Good
  • 12. Utilitarianism and its Method
  • i. Utilitarianism Stated
  • ii. The Systematization Argument
  • iii. The Search for a Code
  • iv. Rules and Exceptions
  • v. Utilitarianism and Common Sense
  • 13. The Dualism of the Practical Reason
  • i. The Viability of Egoism
  • ii. Egoism and the Systematization Argument
  • iii. The Axiom of Egoism
  • iv. The Necessity of Egoism
  • v. The Problem of the Dualism
  • vi. The Final Uncertainty
  • PART III: AFTER THE METHODS
  • 14. Sidgwick and the Later Victorians
  • i. Evolutionism
  • ii. Idealism: F. H. Bradley
  • iii. Idealism: T. H. Green
  • 15. Sidgwick and the History of Ethics
  • i. Sidgwick's History of Ethics
  • ii. Sidgwick in the History of Ethics
  • BIBLIOGRAPHIES
  • I. Henry Sidgwiek: Manuscripts and Published Writings
  • II. (a) Checklist of Moralists, 1785-1900
  • (b) Literature on John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, 1861-76
  • III. General Bibliography
  • Index
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W.