That a science of human conduct is possible, that what any man may do even in moments of the most sober and careful reflection can be understood and explained, has seemed to many a philosopher to cast doubt upon our common view that any human action can ever be said to be truly free. This book, first published in 1961, looks into crucially important issues that are often ignored in the familiar arguments for and against the possibility of free action. These issues are brought to light and examined in some detail.

That a science of human conduct is possible, that what any man may do even in moments of the most sober and careful reflection can be understood and explained, has seemed to many a philosopher to cast doubt upon our common view that any human action can ever be said to be truly free. This book, first published in 1961, looks into crucially important issues that are often ignored in the familiar arguments for and against the possibility of free action. These issues are brought to light and examined in some detail.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1959.

ETHICAL THEORIES A Book of Readings Edited by A. I. MELDEN, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Philosophy University of Washington Seattle, Washington Mew York PRENTICE-HALL, INC. COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY PRENTICE-HALL, INC. 70 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY MIMEOGRAPH OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHERS. Printing .................... October, 1950 Second Printing ................... March, 1951 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Preface MY ASSUMPTION, in preparing this volume of readings, has been that the most effective way in which an understanding of ethics or moral philosophy can be promoted is through a reading of the original source materials essays written by outstanding and representative thinkers. In choosing the materials for this volume, I have been guided by several considerations a the extreme importance of presenting fairly complete essays, with as few deletions of material as possible, in order to avoid present ing fragmentary selections that are intelligible only in the light of the omitted context, b the desirability of limiting the selections to those that are most relevant to contemporary ethical theory, and c the importance of includ ing materials from the recent as well as the remote past. The present design, therefore, is not to present a source-book in the history of ethics. Although selections - have been arranged chronologically, there are important omis sions. The most unfortunate of these is Spinoza. Only material from the Ethics will do, but the discussions of ethics in that work are inextricably woven together with discussions of the theory of knowledge, psychology, and metaphysics. Similar considerations prompted the omission of the examples of Christian ethics from the writings of Augustine and Aquinas. It would be impossible to supply more than fragmentary samples of the ethical theories of these thinkers, and my objective has been to supply actual texts that could be understood and studied on their own account. The difficult problem of choosing readings has been complicated throughout by the neces sary limitation of space. How well the aforementioned considerations of this volume have been met by the selections chosen is a matter on which there will be differences of opinion. Inevitably, compromises have been necessary. My indebtedness extends to many, but chiefly to Professors Arthur E. Murphy of Cornell University and Charles A. Baylis of the University of Maryland for their encouragement and valuable suggestions to my col leagues at the University of Washington, Professors Everett J. Nelson, Melvin Rader, and Arthur F. Smullyan for their encouragement, advice, and the benefit of many stimulating hours of discussion on the subject of ethics and to Mrs. Helen Lea for her patient, invaluable assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments to publishers and individuals for permission to repro duce material are to be found with the selections. v Table of Contents EDITORS ESSAY On the Nature and Problems of Ethics 1 PLATO The Republic of Plato, Books I and IX Selections from Books II, IV, VI, and VIII Translated, with introduction and analyses, by F. M. Cornford 20 ARISTOTLE The Nicomachean Ethics, Books I, II, and X Translated by W. D. Ross 81 EPICURUS Epicurus to Menoeceus Translated by C. Bailey 113 PrincipalDoctrines Translated by C. Bailey 116 EPICTETUS The Encheiridion, or Manual Translated by G. Long . . .119 THOMAS HOBBES Leviathan, Part I, Selections from Chapters VI, XI, XIII, XIV, and XV 133 JOSEPH BUTLER j Sermons, Preface, I, II, III, and XI 145 DAVID HUME An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Selections from Sections I, II, III, V, VI, IX, and Appendices I and III . ...

ETHICAL THEORIES A Book of Readings Edited by A. I. MELDEN, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Philosophy University of Washington Seattle, Washington Mew York PRENTICE-HALL, INC. COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY PRENTICE-HALL, INC. 70 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY MIMEOGRAPH OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHERS. Printing .................... October, 1950 Second Printing ................... March, 1951 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Preface MY ASSUMPTION, in preparing this volume of readings, has been that the most effective way in which an understanding of ethics or moral philosophy can be promoted is through a reading of the original source materials essays written by outstanding and representative thinkers. In choosing the materials for this volume, I have been guided by several considerations a the extreme importance of presenting fairly complete essays, with as few deletions of material as possible, in order to avoid present ing fragmentary selections that are intelligible only in the light of the omitted context, b the desirability of limiting the selections to those that are most relevant to contemporary ethical theory, and c the importance of includ ing materials from the recent as well as the remote past. The present design, therefore, is not to present a source-book in the history of ethics. Although selections - have been arranged chronologically, there are important omis sions. The most unfortunate of these is Spinoza. Only material from the Ethics will do, but the discussions of ethics in that work are inextricably woven together with discussions of the theory of knowledge, psychology, and metaphysics. Similar considerations prompted the omission of the examples of Christian ethics from the writings of Augustine and Aquinas. It would be impossible to supply more than fragmentary samples of the ethical theories of these thinkers, and my objective has been to supply actual texts that could be understood and studied on their own account. The difficult problem of choosing readings has been complicated throughout by the neces sary limitation of space. How well the aforementioned considerations of this volume have been met by the selections chosen is a matter on which there will be differences of opinion. Inevitably, compromises have been necessary. My indebtedness extends to many, but chiefly to Professors Arthur E. Murphy of Cornell University and Charles A. Baylis of the University of Maryland for their encouragement and valuable suggestions to my col leagues at the University of Washington, Professors Everett J. Nelson, Melvin Rader, and Arthur F. Smullyan for their encouragement, advice, and the benefit of many stimulating hours of discussion on the subject of ethics and to Mrs. Helen Lea for her patient, invaluable assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments to publishers and individuals for permission to repro duce material are to be found with the selections. v Table of Contents EDITORS ESSAY On the Nature and Problems of Ethics 1 PLATO The Republic of Plato, Books I and IX Selections from Books II, IV, VI, and VIII Translated, with introduction and analyses, by F. M. Cornford 20 ARISTOTLE The Nicomachean Ethics, Books I, II, and X Translated by W. D. Ross 81 EPICURUS Epicurus to Menoeceus Translated by C. Bailey 113 PrincipalDoctrines Translated by C. Bailey 116 EPICTETUS The Encheiridion, or Manual Translated by G. Long . . .119 THOMAS HOBBES Leviathan, Part I, Selections from Chapters VI, XI, XIII, XIV, and XV 133 JOSEPH BUTLER j Sermons, Preface, I, II, III, and XI 145 DAVID HUME An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Selections from Sections I, II, III, V, VI, IX, and Appendices I and III . ...

In Rights in Moral Lives, A. I. Melden, a distinguished philosopher and moral rights theorist, examines important changes that have occurred in our thinking about rights since first mention of them was made in early modern times. His inquiry is framed by an opening question and a concluding response. The question is whether the Greeks had any conception of a moral right. Some argue that they did not, on the ground that they had no word for a right. Others claim that they did, since they employed certain locutions, the equivalents of which in our language are tied to some notion of a moral right.   Melden reviews in detail some of the most important historical conceptions of rights and examines serious questions raised by the fact that there have been striking changes in our thinking about rights. His discussion elucidates the place of moral rights in the broader network of moral concepts, along with the role they should play in our moral lives. Among the fundamental issues raised and discussed are the ways in which we are to understand various sorts of rights, the relation of special moral rights to our basic human rights, the now familiar claim that there are animal rights, the nature of moral progress, and the dream of a moral science.  This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988. 

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1959.  

In Rights in Moral Lives, A. I. Melden, a distinguished philosopher and moral rights theorist, examines important changes that have occurred in our thinking about rights since first mention of them was made in early modern times. His inquiry is framed by an opening question and a concluding response. The question is whether the Greeks had any conception of a moral right. Some argue that they did not, on the ground that they had no word for a right. Others claim that they did, since they employed certain locutions, the equivalents of which in our language are tied to some notion of a moral right.   Melden reviews in detail some of the most important historical conceptions of rights and examines serious questions raised by the fact that there have been striking changes in our thinking about rights. His discussion elucidates the place of moral rights in the broader network of moral concepts, along with the role they should play in our moral lives. Among the fundamental issues raised and discussed are the ways in which we are to understand various sorts of rights, the relation of special moral rights to our basic human rights, the now familiar claim that there are animal rights, the nature of moral progress, and the dream of a moral science.  This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.