Ethics

by Alex Barber

Judgements about what we ought or ought not to do permeate and shape our lives. But what grounds do we have for making these judgements? When i am unsure about the moral acceptability of a possible course of action, where should i look to settle the matter? As a moral being, should i be aiming to do whatever brings about the greatest possible amount of happiness in the world? If not, then what? And why should i do the right thing if i would benefit more from doing the wrong thing? These questions belong to the field of philosophy known as ethics, or moral philosophy, and are the topic of this book. This is the third of six books that make up the core teaching material of the open university module a222 exploring philosophy. It consists of four chapters, plus associated readings by plato, jeremy bentham, john stuart mill, immanuel kant and some more recent philosophers. Some of the readings are in the back of the book. All the others are in the set book (john cottinghams western philosophy: an anthology, 2nd edn). There is a glossary at the end of the present book which contains explanations of key terms (highlighted in bold in the text). You will find further teaching material on the exploring philosophy website, including an online activity, end-of-chapter quizzes and five audio recordings. You will be referred to these at the appropriate points. You will also find suggestions for optional further reading and other materials on the website. As with the other books in the module, you will be asked to do more than familiarise yourself with what various philosophers have claimed. You will also be expected to engage with them by assessing their arguments and considering potential objections to their positions. To help you do this, the book builds on philosophical skills you have already been introduced to in books 1 and 2, and introduces new ones that will, in turn, be reinforced in books 4, 5 and 6. The present book is closest in content to the final one, on political philosophy, and when you come to it you will find yourself revisiting some of the themes raised here

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

216 pages

Reviews

[Andrew Wardle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite the book I thought I was buying - it's part of a modular Open University Ethics course and makes reference to learning resources not included in the book itself - but an interesting introduction to the practice of ethical thought and discussion, taking in the writings of Plato, Hume, Bentham and Kant among others.
I liked the author's critique of "amateur" ethical debates on TV programmes & in emotionally-charged arguments. Two representative quotations:
"The aim of doing philosophy is to identify which opinions have the most going for them, not to arm yourself to the teeth with arguments in favour of an opinion you already hold"; and
"'Philosophy' means 'the love of wisdom', not 'the love of my own prejudices'".