Western Ethics

The author is Professor of Philosophy at Georgia State University. His publications in Rationalism, Realism, and Relativism (1990). He was co-editor (with H.J. Glock) of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigation (1991) and Wittgenstein and Quine (1996). He is the editor of the Companion to the Philosophers (Blackwell Publishers, forthcoming).

"What Arrington has produced is a series of very sympathetic interpretations of each featured philosopher. Special emphasis is given throughout the text to those historical figures who have had the most influence on recent analytical moral philosophy, including Aristotle, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant and Mill. Of particular interest to those who may consider using this text in their classes is the division of each chapter into concise segments that focus on each philosopher's key concepts, the attempt to include the latest scholarship, and the helpful list of recommended readings." Doug Carriker "Professor Arrington has written a concise and wonderfully understandable introduction to the history of moral philosophy in the West up to the twentieth century. I have no doubt that this book will and should become a standard text for both undergraduate and post-graduate study." Len Doyal, University of London "Arrington deals with the major figures of Western ethics with clarity and precision, but above all with unusual sympathy. In combining respect for, and critical appraisal of each of the stands of Western thought, he conveys a sense of the rich weave of our ethical tradition." Richard D. Parry, Agnes Scott College

• Preface vii Acknowledgments x1. Socrates and the Sophists: an Invitation to Ethics 12. Plato 343. Aristotle 634. Hellenistic Ethics: Epicurus and the Stoics 935. Ethics During the Medieval Period 1226. Hobbes 1577. Spinoza 1848. Butler 2119. Hume 23110. Kant 26111. Hegel 29512. Bentham and Mills 31813. Nietzsche 361Epilogue: Into the Twentieth Century 378Recommended Readings 388Notes 393Index 414