Title: Real ethics : reconsidering the foundations of morality /
Authors: Rist, John M.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press,
Year: 2002
Subjects: Ethics; Realism.; Ethics History; Moral realism.
Abstract: John Rist surveys the history of ethics from Plato to the present and offers a vigorous defence of an ethical theory based on a revised version of Platonic realism. In a wide-ranging discussion he examines well-known alternatives to Platonism, in particular--Epicurus, Hobbes, Hume and Kant, as well as contemporary "practical reasoners". His accessible study is enhanced by a strong sense of philosophical history, and will be of interest to students and scholars of ethics.
Contents: Moral nihilism: Socrates vs. Thrasymachus -- Morals and metaphysics -- The soul and the self -- Division and its remedies -- Rules and applications -- The past, present and future of practical reasoning -- Autonomy and choice -- Ethics and ideology -- God and ethics.