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Product Description
Product Description
Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, by the fear that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish and tribalistic, or competitive and aggressive. In this 'sparklingly clear' (Guardian) introduction to ethics Simon Blackburn tackles the major moral questions surrounding birth, death, happiness, desire and freedom, showing us how we should think about the meaning of life, and how we should mistrust the soundbite-sized absolutes that often dominate moral debates.
About the Author
Simon Blackburn is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Until recently he was Edna J. Doury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, and from 1969 to 1999 a Fellow and Tutor at Pembroke College, Oxford. His books include Spreading the Word (1984), Essays in Quasi-Realism (1993), The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (1994), Ruling Passions (1998), and Truth (co-edited with Keith Simmons, 1999), and the best-selling Think (1999). He
edited the journal Mind from 1984 to 1990.
edited the journal Mind from 1984 to 1990.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
We have all learned to become sensitive to the physical environment. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
We have all learned to become sensitive to the physical environment. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a good book if you need an overview of the main theories within ethics, but does not go into much depth, as the name might suggest. A note though, this is the same book as Simon Blackburns 'Being Good' just in a different cover!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I greatly enjoy Oxford's Very Short Introduction series. I work with some very able pupils who are studying Critical Thinking and in the process of applying for courses in medicine and law at highly competitive universities, and I chose this book to help me engage with them. I also wanted to learn more about the field for myself. As the author, a Cambridge professor, says in the introduction, this book was previously published as 'Being Good'. It begins by addressing seven perceived threats to mature ethical thinking, the first of which is religion. For Blackburn, this seems chiefly to mean the Bible: a few pages are spent on Jesus' 'moral quirks' and the old internet chestnut 'Dr Laura', and Nietzsche who is quoted 'in full flow'. The book is premised on an argument that ethical living need take no account of God/a god/gods. Throughout, by examining specific areas of difficulty and the history of ethical thought, Blackburn exposes difficulties with relativism, utilitarianism and other views. He writes elegantly, using helpful illustrations and thought-provoking images, and with some humour. If I found some parts hard to follow because of the necessary compression of explanation, it only prompted me to re-read those parts and explore the works of ethical philosophers for myself. For these reasons I would recommend this book as an excellent starting point. Readers may also wish to visit Blackburn's witty website, easily reached by searching under his name.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The 'Very Short Introduction' series by OUP are, in general, perfect for their market - insightful, unbiased and simply-set out introductions.
I felt that this effort felt somewhat short of these measures. While the author is clearly knowledgeable and highly intelligent, in his writing he comes across as rather arrogant and opinionated. The book comes across at times as simply a stream of Blackburn's consciousness (appropriately!). This would, of course, not be a problem if this was a thesis or his own view on a certain theory of ethics, however for an introduction, was not perhaps pitched correctly.
On the other hand, the book gives a flavour of the difficult subject of 'Ethics', and it did lead to some further reading. So on this count, then, it did 'introduce' me to Ethics, although it could certainly have done so with slightly more delicacy.
I felt that this effort felt somewhat short of these measures. While the author is clearly knowledgeable and highly intelligent, in his writing he comes across as rather arrogant and opinionated. The book comes across at times as simply a stream of Blackburn's consciousness (appropriately!). This would, of course, not be a problem if this was a thesis or his own view on a certain theory of ethics, however for an introduction, was not perhaps pitched correctly.
On the other hand, the book gives a flavour of the difficult subject of 'Ethics', and it did lead to some further reading. So on this count, then, it did 'introduce' me to Ethics, although it could certainly have done so with slightly more delicacy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Biased & charged; not an introduction
From another amazon review on this book:
"...his writing he comes across as rather arrogant and opinionated. [... Read more
"...his writing he comes across as rather arrogant and opinionated. [... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Adam Tzur
Traces of Complacency?
This book has pictures, but not one of the hungry not being fed because
we give what should go to them to the philosophy professor so he can provide well-fed us with... Read more
we give what should go to them to the philosophy professor so he can provide well-fed us with... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2008 by Andrew D. Crowe
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