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First published in 2000. This is Volume V of six in the
International Library of Philosophy looking at the area of
Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Anglo-American Philosophy. Written
in 1922, it focuses on Philosophical studies and a selection of
papers and lectures.
G.E. Moore, more than either Bertrand Russell or Ludwig
Wittgenstein, was chiefly responsible for the rise of the analytic
method in twentieth-century philosophy. This selection of his
writings shows Moore at his very best. The classic essays are
crucial to major philosophical debates that still resonate today.
Amongst those included are: * A Defense of Common Sense * Certainty
* Sense-Data * External and Internal Relations * Hume's Theory
Explained * Is Existence a Predicate? * Proof of an External World
In addition, this collection also contains the key early papers in
which Moore signals his break with idealism, and three important
previously unpublished papers from his later work which illustrate
his relationship with Wittgenstein.
G.E. Moore, more than either Bertrand Russell or Ludwig Wittgenstein, was chiefly responsible for the rise of the analytic method in twentieth-century philosophy. This selection of his writings shows Moore at his very best. The classic essays are crucial to major philosophical debates that still resonate today. Amongst those included are: * A Defense of Common Sense * Certainty * Sense-Data * External and Internal Relations * Hume's Theory Explained * Is Existence a Predicate? * Proof of an External World In addition, this collection also contains the key early papers in which Moore signals his break with idealism, and three important previously unpublished papers from his later work which illustrate his relationship with Wittgenstein.
First published in 2000. This is Volume V of six in the
International Library of Philosophy looking at the area of
Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Anglo-American Philosophy. Written
in 1922, it focuses on Philosophical studies and a selection of
papers and lectures.
Principia Ethica is recognized as the definitive starting point for twentieth-century ethical theory. The text is reprinted here with the previously unpublished preface Moore wrote for a planned, but never completed, second edition. Though unfinished, it sets out clearly Moore's second thoughts about his own work. The volume also includes two important pieces from his later ethical writings, "Free Will" and "The Conception of Intrinsic Value," and a new introduction by Thomas Baldwin.
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger
Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain
imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed
pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we
have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting,
preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger
Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and
hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger
PublishingAcentsa -a centss Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age,
it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia
and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally
important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to
protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature.
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of
rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for e
ETHICS G. E. MOORE Lrrr. D., LL. D., F. B. A. HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO First published in
1912 and reprinted in 1925 twice, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939,
1944 and 1945 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN CONTENTS OTAf. FA6P I
UTILITARIANISM 7 U UTILITARIANISM concluded .... 40 ill THE
OBJECTIVITY OF MORAL JUDGMENTS . 79 IV THH OBJECTIVITY oir MORAL
JUDGMENTS concluded 138 V RESULTS THE TEST OF RIGHT AND WRONG . 170
VI FREE WILL 196 VII INTRINSIC VALUB .... 228 NOTE ON BOOKS 258
INDEX 266 ETHICS CHAPTER I UTILITARIANISM ETHICS is a subject about
which there has been and still is an immense amount of difference
of opinion, in spite of all the time and labour which have been
devoted to the study of it. There are indeed certain matters about
which there is not much disagree ment. Almost everybody is agreed
that certain kinds of actions ought, as a general rule, to be
avoided and that under certain circumstances, which constantly
recur, it is, as a general rule, better to act in certain specified
ways rather than in others. There is, moreover, a pretty general
agreement, with regard to certain things which happen in the world,
that it would be better if they never happened, or, at least, did
not happen 8 ETHICS so often as they do and with regard to others,
that it would be better if they hap pened more often than they do.
But on many questions, even of this kind, there is great diversity
of opinion. Actions which some philosophers hold to be generally
wrong, others hold to be generally right, and occurrences which
some hold to be evils, others hold to be goods. And when we come to
more fundamental questions the difference of opinion is even more
marked. Ethicalphilosophers have, in fact, been largely concerned,
not with laying down rules to the effect that certain ways of
acting are generally or always right, and others generally or
always wrong, nor yet with giving lists of things which are good
and others which are evil, but with trying to answer more general
and fundamental questions such as the following. What, after all,
is it that we mean to say of an action when we say that it is right
or ought to be done And what is it that we mean to say of a state
of things when we say that it is good or bad Can we discover any
general characteristic, which belongs in UTILITARIANISM common to
absolutely all right actions, no matter how different they may be
in other respects and which does not belong to any actions except
those which are right And can we similarly discover any char
acteristic which belongs in common to absolutely all good things,
and which does not belong to any thing except what is a good Or
again, can we discover any single reason, applicable to all right
actions equally, which is, in every case, the reason why an action
is right, when it is right And can we, similarly, discover any
reason which is the reason why a thing is good, when it is good,
and which also gives us the reason why any one thing is better than
another, when it is better Or is there, perhaps, no such single
reason in either case On questions of this sort different philo
sophers still hold the most diverse opinions. I think it is true
that absolutely every answer which has ever been given to them by
any one philosopher would be denied to be true by many others.
There is, at any rate, no such consensus of opinion among experts
about these fundamental ethical 10ETHICS questions, as there is
about many funda mental propositions in Mathematics and the Natural
Sciences. Now, it is precisely questions of this sort, about every
one of which there are serious differences of opinion, that I wish
to dis cuss in this book. And from the fact that so much difference
of opinion exists about them it is natural to infer that they are
questions about which it is extremely difficult to discover the
truth. This is, I think, really the case...
ETHICS G. E. MOORE Lrrr. D., LL. D., F. B. A. HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO First published in
1912 and reprinted in 1925 twice, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939,
1944 and 1945 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN CONTENTS OTAf. FA6P I
UTILITARIANISM 7 U UTILITARIANISM concluded .... 40 ill THE
OBJECTIVITY OF MORAL JUDGMENTS . 79 IV THH OBJECTIVITY oir MORAL
JUDGMENTS concluded 138 V RESULTS THE TEST OF RIGHT AND WRONG . 170
VI FREE WILL 196 VII INTRINSIC VALUB .... 228 NOTE ON BOOKS 258
INDEX 266 ETHICS CHAPTER I UTILITARIANISM ETHICS is a subject about
which there has been and still is an immense amount of difference
of opinion, in spite of all the time and labour which have been
devoted to the study of it. There are indeed certain matters about
which there is not much disagree ment. Almost everybody is agreed
that certain kinds of actions ought, as a general rule, to be
avoided and that under certain circumstances, which constantly
recur, it is, as a general rule, better to act in certain specified
ways rather than in others. There is, moreover, a pretty general
agreement, with regard to certain things which happen in the world,
that it would be better if they never happened, or, at least, did
not happen 8 ETHICS so often as they do and with regard to others,
that it would be better if they hap pened more often than they do.
But on many questions, even of this kind, there is great diversity
of opinion. Actions which some philosophers hold to be generally
wrong, others hold to be generally right, and occurrences which
some hold to be evils, others hold to be goods. And when we come to
more fundamental questions the difference of opinion is even more
marked. Ethicalphilosophers have, in fact, been largely concerned,
not with laying down rules to the effect that certain ways of
acting are generally or always right, and others generally or
always wrong, nor yet with giving lists of things which are good
and others which are evil, but with trying to answer more general
and fundamental questions such as the following. What, after all,
is it that we mean to say of an action when we say that it is right
or ought to be done And what is it that we mean to say of a state
of things when we say that it is good or bad Can we discover any
general characteristic, which belongs in UTILITARIANISM common to
absolutely all right actions, no matter how different they may be
in other respects and which does not belong to any actions except
those which are right And can we similarly discover any char
acteristic which belongs in common to absolutely all good things,
and which does not belong to any thing except what is a good Or
again, can we discover any single reason, applicable to all right
actions equally, which is, in every case, the reason why an action
is right, when it is right And can we, similarly, discover any
reason which is the reason why a thing is good, when it is good,
and which also gives us the reason why any one thing is better than
another, when it is better Or is there, perhaps, no such single
reason in either case On questions of this sort different philo
sophers still hold the most diverse opinions. I think it is true
that absolutely every answer which has ever been given to them by
any one philosopher would be denied to be true by many others.
There is, at any rate, no such consensus of opinion among experts
about these fundamental ethical 10ETHICS questions, as there is
about many funda mental propositions in Mathematics and the Natural
Sciences. Now, it is precisely questions of this sort, about every
one of which there are serious differences of opinion, that I wish
to dis cuss in this book. And from the fact that so much difference
of opinion exists about them it is natural to infer that they are
questions about which it is extremely difficult to discover the
truth. This is, I think, really the case...
G. E. Moore's 1912 work Ethics has tended to be overshadowed by his
famous earlier work Principia Ethica. However, its detailed
discussions of utilitarianism, free will, and the objectivity of
moral judgements find no real counterpart in Principia, while its
account of right and wrong and of the nature of intrinsic value
deepen our understanding of Moore's moral philosophy. Moore himself
regarded the book highly, writing late in his career, "I myself
like [it] better than Principia Ethica, because it seems to me to
be much clearer and far less full of confusions and invalid
arguments." Short but philosophically rich, and written with
impressive precision and intellectual candor, Ethics is a minor
classic which repays careful study. This new edition includes
Moore's essay "The Nature of Moral Philosophy" as well as editorial
notes, an introduction, and a guide to further reading.
This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by
the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of
both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a
broad and representative collection of classic works.
G. E. Moore was a central figure in twentieth-century philosophy.
Along with Russell and Wittgenstein, he pioneered analytic
philosophy, and his Principia Ethica shaped the contours of
twentieth-century ethics. Indeed, until the publication of Rawls's
A Theory of Justice, no single book in moral philosophy was to
equal Principia's influence. Unfortunately, however, Principia
Ethica has so dominated critical discussions of Moore's work that
even experts on his moral philosophy have tended to ignore his
Ethics, which he published eight years later. But Ethics is Moore's
only other book on moral philosophy, and one of only a handful of
post-Principia publications dealing with ethics. Its detailed
discussions of utilitarianism, free will, and the objectivity of
moral judgements find no real counterpart in Principia while its
account of right and wrong and of the nature of intrinsic value
deepen our understanding of his moral philosophy. The republication
of Ethics thus rounds out our understanding of Moore's ethical
thought. But the book's value goes beyond its historical or
scholarly interest. A short but philosophically rich text, Ethics
stands independent of Principia and repays careful study in its own
right. By raising a number of fundamental questions in ethics,
questions that remain live today, by proffering clear, credible,
and often innovative answers to them, and by doing so with a
philosophical skill that is still impressive, Moore's short book is
a minor classic. Almost a century after its original publication,
it still amply rewards those who read it. This new edition of
Moore's Ethics includes his essay 'The Nature of Moral Philosophy'
as well as editorial notes, an introduction, and a guide to further
reading.
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