A Short History of Ethics

A Short History of Ethics has over the past thirty years become a key philosophical contribution to studies on morality and ethics. Alasdair MacIntyre writes a new preface for this second edition which looks at the book 'thirty years on' and considers its impact. A Short History of Ethics guides the reader through the history of moral philosophy from the Greeks to contemporary times. MacIntyre emphasises the importance of a historical context to moral concepts and ideas showing the relevance of philosophical queries on moral concepts and the importance of a historical account of ethics.

A Short History of Ethics is an important contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. Ideal for all philosophy students interested in ethics and morality.

Table of Contents

1 The Philosophical Point of the History of Ethics 2 The Prephilosophical History of “Good” and the Transition to Philosophy 3 The Sophists and Socrates 4 Plato: The Gorgias 5 Plato: The Republic 6 Postscript to Plato 7 Aristotle’s Ethics 8 Postscript to Greek Ethics 9 Christianity 10 Luther, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Spinoza 11 New Values 12 The British Eighteenth-Century Argument 13 The French Eighteenth-Century Argument 14 Kant 15 Hegel and Marx 16 Kierkegaard to Nietzsche 17 Reformers, Utilitarians, Idealists 18 Modern Moral Philosophy