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Being Good : An Introduction to Ethics by Simon Blackburn (2001, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100192100521

ISBN-139780192100528

eBay Product ID (ePID)1855059

Product Key Features

Book TitleBeing Good : an Introduction to Ethics

Number of Pages172 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2001

TopicEthics & Moral Philosophy, General

IllustratorYes

GenrePhilosophy

AuthorSimon Blackburn

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight8.8 Oz

Item Length4.9 in

Item Width7.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2001-269164

Dewey Edition21

Reviews'Simon Blackburn's short book takes the big moral questions head on and does so brilliantly. . . a witty, vivid write with an enviable popular touch . . .this is a wonderfully enlightening book.'Ben Rogers, Sunday Telegraph, March 25 2001, 'Simon Blackburn's short book takes the big moral questions head on anddoes so brilliantly. . . a witty, vivid write with an enviable popular touch . ..this is a wonderfully enlightening book.'Ben Rogers, Sunday Telegraph, March 25 2001, "A brief introduction to ethics, one that plays lightly and gracefully over a number of philosophical themes, including the relationship between being good and living well."--Jim Holt,New Yorker "A slender but rich meditation on why humans should choose to behave well when the possibilities for doing evil are so abundant. . . . Highly accessible, and highly rewarding."--Kirkus Reviews "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, "A brief introduction to ethics, one that plays lightly and gracefully over a number of philosophical themes, including the relationship between being good and living well."--Jim Holt, New Yorker "A slender but rich meditation on why humans should choose to behave well when the possibilities for doing evil are so abundant. . . . Highly accessible, and highly rewarding."-- Kirkus Reviews "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, "A brief introduction to ethics, one that plays lightly and gracefully over a number of philosophical themes, including the relationship between being good and living well."--Jim Holt, New Yorker"A slender but rich meditation on why humans should choose to behave well when the possibilities for doing evil are so abundant. . . . Highly accessible, and highly rewarding."--Kirkus Reviews"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, "A brief introduction to ethics, one that plays lightly and gracefully over a number of philosophical themes, including the relationship between being good and living well."--Jim Holt, New Yorker "A slender but rich meditation on why humans should choose to behave well when the possibilities for doing evil are so abundant. . . . Highly accessible, and highly rewarding."--Kirkus Reviews "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, 'Being Good, like its predecessor Think, is a model of lucid exposition, enlivened by reference to contemporary events and a gift for the telling analogy.'The INdependent 15/12/2001

Dewey Decimal170

Table Of ContentPrefaceList of IllustrationsIntroductionSeven Threats to Ethics1. The Threat of the Death of God2. The Threat of Relativism3. The Threat of Egoism4. The Threat from Evolutionary Theory5. The Threat of Determinism and Futility6. The Threat of Unreasonable Demands7. The Threat of False ConsciousnessSome Ethical Ideas8. Birth9. Death10. Desire and the Meaning of Life11. Pleasure12. The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number13. Freedom from the Bad14. Freedom and Paternalism15. Rights and Natural RightsFoundations?16. Reasons and Foundations17. Living Well and Doing Good18. The Categorical Imperative19. Contracts and Discourse20. The Common Point of View21. Confidence RestoredFurther ReadingIndex

SynopsisIt 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., From political scandals at the highest levels to inflated repair bills at the local garage, we are seemingly surrounded with unethical behavior, so why should we behave any differently? Why should we go through life anchored down by rules no one else seems to follow? Writing with wit and elegance, Simon Blackburn tackles such questions in this lively look at ethics, highlighting the complications and doubts and troubling issues that spring from the very simple question of how we ought to live. Blackburn dissects many common reasons why we are skeptical about ethics. Drawing on all-too-familiar examples from history, politics, religion and everyday personal experience, he shows how cynicism and self-consciousness can paralyze us into considering ethics a hopeless pursuit. But ethics is neither futile nor irrelevant, he assures us, but an intimate part of the nitty gritty issues of living--of birth, death, happiness, desire, freedom, pleasure, justice. Indeed, from moral dilemmas about abortion and euthanasia, to our obsession with personal rights, to our longing for a sense of meaning in life, our everyday struggles are rife with ethical issues, whether we notice it or not. Blackburn distills the arguments of Hume, Kant and Aristotle down to their essences, to underscore the timeless relevance of our voice of conscience, the pitfalls of complacency, and our concerns about truth, knowledge and human progress. Blackburn's rare combination of depth, rigor and sparkling prose, and his distinguished ranking among contemporary philosophers, mark Being Good as an important statement on our current disenchantment with ethics. It challenges us to take a more thoughtful reading of our ethical climate and to ponder more carefully our own standards of behavior.

LC Classification NumberBJ1012.B535 2001