- Paperback: 1008 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc (April 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195104536
- ISBN-13: 978-0195104530
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 16.5 x 4.6 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,011,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
This collection is organized into sections, intended to provide instructors with flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of courses in moral philosophy. Opening with Alasdair MacIntyre's discussion of the importance of the history of ethics, the first section, Historical Sources, moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and Epictetus) through medieval views (Augustine and Aquinas) to modern theories (Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Bentham and Mill). It culminates with the religiosity of Kierkegaard, the pessimism of Schopenhauer, the nihilism of Nietzsche, the pragmatism of James and Dewey, and the existentialism of Camus and Sartre. The readings are reprinted in their entirety wherever possible. The second section of the text, Modern Ethical Theory, begins with James Rachels' overview of recent developments and includes many important essays of the 20th century. The discussion of utilitarianism, Kantianism, egoism, and relativism continues in the work of major contemporary philosophers (Williams, Brandt, Feinberg, Foot and Rachels). This book is intended for students taking introductory ethics and moral philosophy courses.
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First Sentence
Plato (C. 428-347 B.C.), the famed Athenian philosopher, wrote a series of dialogues, most of which feature his teacher Socrates. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Plato (C. 428-347 B.C.), the famed Athenian philosopher, wrote a series of dialogues, most of which feature his teacher Socrates. Read the first page
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8 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Horrid translations makes this a bad text
11 April 2009
Format:Paperback
This book has absolutely atrocious translations of some of the older texts. Here's an example from Epicurus' Letters to Menoeceus
This text reads
"For it is then that we have need of pleasure, when we feel pain owing to the absence of pleasure; (but when we do not feel pain), we no longer need pleasure."
Every other translation reads something like
"When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. "
That completely reverses the meaning of the text. I have never seen a book filled with so many ham fisted translations. I can't recommend this book to any professor who hopes to teach their students well, or any reader who hopes to understand these texts properly.
This text reads
"For it is then that we have need of pleasure, when we feel pain owing to the absence of pleasure; (but when we do not feel pain), we no longer need pleasure."
Every other translation reads something like
"When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. "
That completely reverses the meaning of the text. I have never seen a book filled with so many ham fisted translations. I can't recommend this book to any professor who hopes to teach their students well, or any reader who hopes to understand these texts properly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
For other instructors considering this text
18 April 2011
Format:Paperback
This is about as comprehensive as it gets at this price. I know of no other book that presents the most common readings in meta-ethics, the history of ethics, moral language, normative ethical theories, and applied ethics. This gives the book a great deal of versatility for various focuses in introductory ethics courses.
Unlike many books of its kind, this book contains few things that are available in the public domain. Even for writings that are several hundred years old (or older) this collection tends to consist of scholarly editions of the text, which are not themselves in the public domain. Considering the relatively low cost of this book, that is a noteworthy fact. After all, it's irritating as a student to buy an expensive anthology which is 30-50% available for free online.
Another reviewer expressed dissatisfaction with the translations selected. All translators must wrestle with balancing accessibility with accuracy, and the results are not likely to be satisfactory to everyone. I can't say anything specifically about the Epicurus translations, but the works I'm more familiar with select (to my mind) acceptable translations. For example, the Aristotle is the Ross translation as revised by Ackrill and Urmson, which is not as good as the Irwin translation, but is better than the public domain Ross translation. The Kant readings are the Gregor translation, which is not public domain, and is generally considered the scholarly standard for that work. The Plato seems all to be Gallop translations, which are reasonably well-thought of and use more modern language than the Jowett. In general, for reasons that make economic sense, since this is an Oxford book the editions of these texts are mostly taken from editions published by Oxford. While they certainly don't have a monopoly on the best editions of these works, they're generally among the best available.
In general this is a very good collection that ought to contain most or all of what the majority of ethics instructors typically assign in their courses, and at a price which is reasonably competitive.
Unlike many books of its kind, this book contains few things that are available in the public domain. Even for writings that are several hundred years old (or older) this collection tends to consist of scholarly editions of the text, which are not themselves in the public domain. Considering the relatively low cost of this book, that is a noteworthy fact. After all, it's irritating as a student to buy an expensive anthology which is 30-50% available for free online.
Another reviewer expressed dissatisfaction with the translations selected. All translators must wrestle with balancing accessibility with accuracy, and the results are not likely to be satisfactory to everyone. I can't say anything specifically about the Epicurus translations, but the works I'm more familiar with select (to my mind) acceptable translations. For example, the Aristotle is the Ross translation as revised by Ackrill and Urmson, which is not as good as the Irwin translation, but is better than the public domain Ross translation. The Kant readings are the Gregor translation, which is not public domain, and is generally considered the scholarly standard for that work. The Plato seems all to be Gallop translations, which are reasonably well-thought of and use more modern language than the Jowett. In general, for reasons that make economic sense, since this is an Oxford book the editions of these texts are mostly taken from editions published by Oxford. While they certainly don't have a monopoly on the best editions of these works, they're generally among the best available.
In general this is a very good collection that ought to contain most or all of what the majority of ethics instructors typically assign in their courses, and at a price which is reasonably competitive.
college book
26 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book came on time and at a good price! I will buy from them again if they have the books I need.
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