Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics

It is not only in our dark hours that scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism dog ethics. Whether it is a matter of giving to charity, or sticking to duty, or insisting on our rights, we can be confused, or be paralysed by the fear that our principles are groundless. Many are afraid that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish and tribalistic, or competitive and aggressive. Simon Blackburn, author of the best-selling Think, structures this short introduction around these and other threats to ethics. Confronting seven different objections to our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures, he charts a course through the philosophical quicksands that often engulf us. Then, turning to problems of life and death, he shows how we should think about the meaning of life, and how we should mistrust the sound-bite sized absolutes that often dominate moral debates. Finally he offers a critical tour of the ways the philosophical tradition has tried to provide foundations for ethics, from Plato and Aristotle through to contemporary debates.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Illustrations Introduction Seven Threats to Ethics 1: The Threat of the Death of God 2: The Threat of Relativism 3: The Threat of Egoism 4: The Threat from Evolutionary Theory 5: The Threat of Determinism and Futility 6: The Threat of Unreasonable Demands 7: The Threat of False Consciousness Some Ethical Ideas 8: Birth 9: Death 10: Desire and the Meaning of Life 11: Pleasure 12: The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number 13: Freedom from the Bad 14: Freedom and Paternalism 15: Rights and Natural Rights Foundations? 16: Reasons and Foundations 17: Living Well and Doing Good 18: The Categorical Imperative 19: Contracts and Discourse 20: The Common Point of View 21: Confidence Restored Further Reading Index

About the Author :
Simon Blackburn is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Until recently he was Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, and from 1969 to 1990 a Fellow and Tutor at Pembroke College, Oxford. His books include Spreading the Word (1984), Essays in Quasi-Realism (1993), The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (1994), Ruling Passions (1998), Truth (co-edited with Keith Simmons, 1999), and the best-selling Think (1999). He edited the journal Mind from 1984 to 1990.

Review :
`Review from previous edition Simon Blackburn's short book takes the big moral questions head on and does so brilliantly. . . a witty, vivid writer with an enviable popular touch . . . this is a wonderfully enlightening book.' Ben Rogers, Sunday Telegraph, March 25 2001 `full of good sense' Sunday Times 21/04/2002 `But for anyone wondering how big questions have bothered us over the years, this witty, rigorous book fills in the gaps.' PLAY, The Times, 02/03/2002 `always lively and never simplistic' Waterstone's Quarterly January 2002 `Good clearheaded stuff' Ted Honderich Times 21/03/01 `'enjoyable and extremely readable . . . Blackburn . . . is breezy, helpful, reassuring'' The Philosopher's Magazine `'sparklingly clear'' Guardian `'a first rate and accessible guide which tackles the huge, perpetual questions'' Nottingham Evaning Post