Ethics: Twelve Lectures on the Philosophy of Morality

Will become one of THE introductions to moral philosophy for all future students Almost everyone has wondered at some time or another why morality requires what it appears to require and how, if at all, it speaks to us. In Ethics- Twelve Lectures on the Philosophy of Morality, David Wiggins surveys the answers most commonly proposed for such questions - gathering insights from Hume, Kant, the utilitarians and the post-utilitarian thinkers of the twentieth century. The view of morality he then proposes draws on sources as diverse as Aristotle, Simone Weil and present day thinkers such as Philippa Foot. As need arises, he pursues a variety of related issues and engages additional thinkers - Plato and Bernard Williams on egoism and altruism, Schopenhauer and Kolnai on evil, Leibniz and Rawls on impartiality, and Montaigne and Mackie on 'moral relativism', among others. Pointing to the special role of the sentiments of solidarity and reciprocity that human beings find within themselves and the part such sentiments play in sustaining our ordinary ideas of agency and responsibility, Wiggins goes on to search the political sphere for a neo-Aristotelian account of justice that will sustain a conception of morality founded in the same sentiments. Finally, he turns to the question of the objectivity or reality of ethical demands, insisting on the emptiness of any 'metaethics' that ignores the rootedness of morality, and the multiplicity of its persuasive resources. The result is an illuminating and original book that makes a compelling introduction to ethics for anyone perplexed by the everyday problem of morality and moral philosophy, and anxious to arrive at their own viewpoint about why and how ethics matters.

About the Author :
David Wiggins is one of the most distinguished moral philosophers living today. He has lectured at every major academic institutution in the world and has been President of the Aristotelian Society, is a Member of the Institut International de Philosophe and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of Needs Values Truth and Sameness and Substance Renewed.

Review :
It is virtually impossible to give a summary of "Ethics" that does justice to the depth and breadth of topics covered in David Wiggins' new introduction to moral theory. "Ethics" is both highly informative, providing detailed expositions of the arguments of main figures in the history of moral philosophy, and engagingly polemical, offering an overall argument for a pluralistic, Humean conception of morality...It is a book well-worth spending time with, not only for the compelling and challenging arguments Wiggins makes on behalf of a Humean approach to morality, but also for the remarkably detailed and incisive presentation of the ground he covers.--Sirine Shebaya"Metapsychology" (08/29/2006) There are few moral philosophers who will not learn something by studying this book and giving it the concentration it demands. Whether he is talking about Kant or John Stuart Mill, Rawls or John Mackie, Wiggins has subtle and interesting things to say.--Simon Blackburn"Times Higher Education Supplement" (09/08/2006)