The Routledge Guidebook to Moore's Principia Ethica

Description

G.E. Moore’s Principia Ethica is a landmark publication in twentieth-century moral philosophy. Through focusing on the origin and evolution of his main doctrines, this guidebook makes it clear that Moore was an innovator whose provocative take on traditional philosophical problems ignited heated debates among philosophers. Principia Ethica is an important text for those attempting to understand and engage with some major philosophical debates in ethics today. The Routledge Guidebook to Moore's Principia Ethica provides a comprehensive introduction to this historic text, examining key Moorean themes including: ethical non-naturalism the naturalistic fallacy the Open Question Argument moral ontology and epistemology ideal utilitarianism vindictive punishment and organicity moral intuition for epistemic justification in ethics theory of value Ideal for anyone wanting to understand and gain perspective on Moore’s seminal work, the book is essential reading for students of moral philosophy, metaethics, normative ethics, philosophical analysis, and related fields. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments List of abbreviations 1 Life and work 1.1 Growing up 1.2 Early years at Cambridge 1.3 The philosopher’s philosopher Notes Suggested reading 2 Principia Ethica in its context 2.1 The non-expert readers of Principia Ethica 2.2 Practical ethics: reformist for some, too conservative for others 2.3 From absolute idealism to non-naturalistic realism Notes Suggested reading 3 Philosophy of Ethics 3.1 The subject matter of ethics 3.2 Core theses of Moore’s philosophy of ethics Notes Suggested reading 4 Moral language and thought 4.1 Moore’s moral semantics in context 4.2 A goodness-centered semantical minimalism Notes Suggested reading 5 The Open Question Argument 5.1 Reconstructing Principia’s Open Question Argument (OQA) 5.2 Assessing the Open Question Argument 5.3 Recasting the Open Question Argument Notes Suggested reading 6 The naturalistic fallacy 6.1 Reconstructing Moore’s naturalistic fallacy charge 6.2 Has anyone committed the naturalistic fallacy? Notes Suggested reading 7 Moral knowledge 7.1 Natural/non-natural: an epistemological criterion 7.2 Against moral intuitionism: the causal and the reliability objections 7.3 Evolutionary debunking arguments Notes Suggested reading 8 Moral properties and truths 8.1 Natural/non-natural: a metaphysical criterion 8.2 Objections to metaphysical non-naturalism Notes Suggested reading 9 Intrinsic value 9.1 The attributes of Moorean goodness 9.2 Challenges to Moorean goodness Notes Suggested reading 10 Moral obligation 10.1 Moral and non-moral obligation 10.2 Obligation, value, and practical reason Notes Suggested reading 11 Normative ethics and theory of value 11.1 Ideal consequentialism, classical utilitarianism, and ethical egoism 11.2 Value pluralism and holism 11.3 The method of isolation Notes Suggested reading Epilogue: the legacy of G. E. Moore and Principia Ethica Bibliography Index