A Short History of Ethics: A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the Twentieth Century

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Psychology Press, 1998 - Philosophy - 280 pages
"In this classic work, Alasdair MacIntyre guides the reader through the history of moral philosophy from the Greeks to contemporary times. He emphasizes the importance of a historical context to moral concepts and ideas. MacIntyre illustrates the relevance of philosophical queries on moral concepts enabling the reader to understand the importance of a historical account of ethics."--Jacket
 

Contents

1 THE PHILOSOPHICAL POINT OF THE HISTORY OF ETHICS
1
2 THE PREPHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF GOOD AND THE TRANSITION TO PHILOSOPHY
4
3 THE SOPHISTS AND SOCRATES
10
THE GORGIAS
18
THE REPUBLIC
23
6 POSTSCRIPT TO PLATO
34
7 ARISTOTLES ETHICS
38
8 POSTSCRIPT TO GREEK ETHICS
55
11 NEW VALUES
94
12 THE BRITISH EIGHTEENTHCENTURY ARGUMENT
101
13 THE FRENCH EIGHTEENTHCENTURY ARGUMENT
114
14 KANT
122
15 HEGEL AND MARX
128
16 KIERKEGAARD TO NIETZSCHE
138
17 REFORMERS UTILITARIANS IDEALISTS
145
18 MODERN MORAL PHILOSOPHY
159

9 CHRISTIANITY
71
10 LUTHER MACHIAVELLI HOBBES AND SPINOZA
78
NOTES
172
INDEX
174

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About the author (1998)

Although he is most widely known for his book "After Virtue" (1981), with its critique of reason and ethics, Alasdair MacIntyre writes in other areas of philosophy as well, including philosophical psychology, political theory, and philosophy of religion. Born in Scotland, he was educated at Manchester, London, and Oxford universities. In 1969, he went to the United States where he has taught at Brandeis, Boston, and Vanderbilt universities. Since 1988, when he also delivered the Gifford lectures, MacIntyre has taught at the University of Notre Dame. "After Virtue" is one of the most widely discussed of all recent books on moral philosophy. It is the culmination of MacIntyre's deep engagement with the history of ethics. In it he argues that modern ethical theory, as it has developed since the seventeenth century, has been exposed by Friedrich Nietzsche as conceptually bankrupt. To find an alternative, he looks to ancient Greece and especially to Aristotle's concept of virtue. Although his critics consider this alternative to be something of an impossible dream, MacIntyre argues that it is central to a recovery of ethics.

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