Moral Philosophy

In On the Genealogy of Morals, subtitled "A Polemic", Nietzsche furthers his pursuit of a clarity that is less tainted by imposed prejudices. He looks at the way attitudes towards 'morality' evolved and the way congenital ideas of morality were heavily colored by the Judaic and Christian traditions.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) was the first major text by Adam Smith who, seven years later, was to publish what was to become one of the major economic classics, The Wealth of Nations (1776). However, Smith regarded The Theory of Moral Sentiments as his most important work because in it he identified the profound human instinct to act not necessarily in self-interest but through, as he phrased it, a ‘mutual sympathy of sentiments’.

We are living in the most moral period of our species’ history. Best-selling author Michael Shermer’s most accomplished and ambitious book to date demonstrates how the scientific way of thinking has made people, and society as a whole, more moral. Ever since the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment thinkers consciously applied the methods of science to solve social and moral problems.

Today, human exceptionalism is the norm. Despite occasional nods to animal welfare, we prioritize humanity, often neglecting the welfare of a vast number of beings. As a result, we use hundreds of billions of vertebrates and trillions of invertebrates every year for a variety of purposes. We also plan to use animals, AI systems, and other nonhumans at even higher levels in the future. Yet as the dominant species, humanity has a responsibility to ask: Which nonhumans matter, how much do they matter, and what do we owe them in a world reshaped by human activity and technology?

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Towards the end of his life, Seneca the Younger (c4 BCE-65 CE) began a correspondence with a friend in Sicily, later collected under the title The Moral Epistles. In these 124 letters, Seneca expresses, in a wise, steady and calm manner, the philosophy by which he lived - derived essentially from the Stoics. The letters deal with a variety of specific topics - often eminently practical - such as 'On Saving Time', 'On the Terrors of Death', 'On True and False Friendships', 'On Brawn and Brains' and 'On Old Age and Death'.

A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.-43 B.C.) is one of the seminal figures in the history of Western philosophy, politics, and letters. On Moral Ends (De Finibus) is considered by many to be his most important work in philosophy. In a series of stimulating dialogues, Cicero seeks to answer the question "What is humanity's Ultimate Good?" by examining the ethical systems of three different schools of thought. In so doing, he reveals powerful and startling truths about wisdom, virtue, and our deepest desires. Quintus Curtius is the pen name of attorney and translator George J. Thomas.

Against majority opinion within his profession, Donald Bloxham argues that it is legitimate, often unavoidable, and frequently important for historians to make value judgments about the past. History and Morality draws on a wide range of historical examples, and its author's insights as a practicing historian.

Genealogía de la Moral es una obra provocadora que desentraña los orígenes y significados de nuestros valores éticos. En este texto, Nietzsche cuestiona las bases de la moralidad convencional y desafía al lector a reconsiderar lo que se considera bueno y malo. A través de un análisis de la historia y la psicología, expone cómo los valores morales han evolucionado, influenciados por factores culturales y de poder.

Immanuel Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, first published in 1785, lays out Kant's essential philosophy and defines the concepts and arguments that would shape his later work. Central to Kant's doctrine is the categorical imperative, which he defines as a mandate that human actions should always conform to a universal, unchanging standard of rational morality.

Robert Jackall's Moral Mazes offers an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness. Based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency, IMoral Mazes takes the reader inside the intricate world of the corporation.

Brought to you by Penguin. A reassuring and thought-provoking guide to all the big questions about AI and ethics Should robots ever be considered free? Will computers transcend human intelligence? And what can we do to make sure AI is safe? The artificial intelligence revolution has begun. Today...

Epictetus was one of the main voices of the philosophy of the Stoa, and as such most influentia. His "Enchiridion", or handbook, is a manual for practical philosophy. It offers carefully worded instructions for an ethical, sustained way of life. A very old text - but true to this very day and age!

From eye-witness accounts of elephants apparently mourning the death of family members to an experiment that showed that hungry rhesus monkeys would not take food if doing so gave another monkey an electric shock, there is much evidence of animals displaying what seem to be moral feelings. But despite such suggestive evidence, philosophers steadfastly deny that animals can act morally, and for reasons that virtually everyone has found convincing.

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) remains one of the most influential works on moral philosophy. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant sets out by explaining the core concepts and principles of moral theory and demonstrating that they are normative for rational agents. He argues that the world of understanding is more fundamental than the world of sense. Therefore the moral law, which clearly applies to the world of understanding, also applies to the world of sense because the world of understanding is primary.

The Good and the Right is a Christian introduction to the major theories of ethics in the history of philosophy, such as relativism, egoism, utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, social contract theory, natural law theory, virtue theory, and divine command theory. Philosophers J. Caleb Clanton and Kraig Martin offer a lucid survey of each ethical framework, and they carefully reconstruct and critically evaluate the case for and against each view.

David Hume (1711-1776) remains a major figure in British philosophy, particularly for two or three works, including A Treatise on Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. But he was also a prolific essayist and historian. During his lifetime Essays Moral, Political and Literary went through a number of editions and collections, far outselling his philosophy. Now, the situation is reversed. But listening to the essays today it is difficult to see why.

Underlain by an acute sense of ethics, this provided the basis for his strongly declared, wide-ranging views on many subjects: prohibition of cock-fighting, liberty of the press, universal suffrage, the removal of religious tests for office and even hunting. All were radical ideas for his time. He also proposed the decriminalisation of homosexuality, though even he did not dare to publish his essay on this subject during his lifetime. But An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation was his major work.

What moral values do human beings hold in common? As globalization draws us together economically, are our values converging or diverging? In particular, are human rights becoming a global ethic? These were the questions that led Michael Ignatieff to embark on a three-year, eight-nation journey in search of answers. The Ordinary Virtues presents Ignatieff's discoveries and his interpretation of what globalization - and resistance to it - is doing to our conscience and our moral understanding.