Morality Matters

Roger Trigg is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick and was the Founding Chairman of the British Philosophical Association. His previous books include Ideas of Human Nature (Blackwell, Second Edition, 1999), Understanding Social Science (Blackwell, Second Edition, 2001), and Philosophy Matters (Blackwell, 2002).

"This is the book that should be given to every minister in the current government, to slow the silly progress of their social engineering projects. This is good, clear, serious teaching, timely and relevant. For a comprehensive study of rights and law, the clash of ideals and competing claims, the demands of social and political groupings and how to decide between them in equity and justice, this is an admirable piece of sound writing. If you are a non-philosopher, you should end the book wiser...."—New Directions, November 2004"In Morality Matters Roger Trigg takes his readers on a romp through classical and contemporary questions of moral philosophy and political theory. Trigg does not purport to provide all the answers. His gift is for raising the right questions in the right contexts and provoking us to think about them more and more deeply. Both specialists and general readers will find much of value in this book."—Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University"... there is quite a lot to be learned here. [Trigg] makes a very, very good case for the position that moral choices lie behind everything we do, that relativism can undermine our ability to talk or think rationally about moral choices, and that a greater focus on our moral values is a necessary condition to political, social, and personal progress."—atheism.about.com"The book is accessible and can be recommended to all those who are interested in political ethics."—Puleng LenkaBula, University of South Africa, Religion & Theology

• Preface. Introduction.Chapter 1 What is Natural?.Chapter 2 Human Nature and Natural Law.Chapter 3 Human Rights.Chapter 4 Natural Rights and Law.Chapter 5 The Rule of Law.Chapter 6 The Public and the Private.Chapter 7 Groups and Individuals.Chapter 8 Patriotism and Nationalism.Chapter 9 One World: A Global Ethic?.Chapter 10 Character and Principle.Chapter 11 Morality and Human Nature.Glossary.Bibliography.Index.