A Short Introduction to Ethics

A lucid introduction to the philosophical discipline known as Ethics, covering a vast range of history from the beginning of philosophy in ancient Greece to the start of the 20th century and the eve of one of the most horrific wars ever waged. A perfect introduction for students new to the philosophical development of ethics and as a refresher for those of us on the path to discover knowledge. 


Contents include: 


Definition and Subject-Matter of Ethics 

Greek and Graeco-Roman Ethics 

The Age of the Sophists 

Socrates and his Disciples 

Plato 

Plato and Aristotle 

Aristotle 

Stoicism 

Hedonism (Epicurus) 

Later Greek and Roman Ethics 

Neoplatonism 

Christianity and Medieval Ethics 

Christian and Jewish “Law of God” 

Christian and Pagan Inwardness (Knowledge, Faith, Love, Purity) 

Distinctive particulars of Christian morality 

Development of opinion in early Christianity, Augustine, Ambrose 

Medieval Morality and Moral Philosophy 

Thomas Aquinas 

Casuistry and Jesuitry 

The Reformation; and birth of Modern Thought 

Modern Ethics 

Grotius 

Hobbes 

The Cambridge Moralists (Cudworth, More) 

Cumberland 

Locke 

Clarke 

Shaftesbury 

Mandeville 

Butler 

Wollaston 

Hutcheson 

Hume 

Adam Smith 

The Intuitional School (Price, Reid, Stewart, Whewell) 

The Utilitarian School (Paley, Bentham, Mill) 

Association and Evolution 

Free-will 

French Influence on English Ethics (Helvetius, Comte) 

German Influence on English Ethics (Kant, Hegel) 

Ethics since 1879