Consequentialism - Paperback

by Stephen Darwell (Editor)

Consequentialism collects, for the first time, both the main classical sources and the central contemporary expressions of this important position. Edited and introduced by Stephen Darwall, these readings are essential for anyone interested in normative ethics.

• Edited and introduced by Stephen Darwall, examines key topics in the consequentialist branch of moral theory.
• Includes seven essays which respond to the classic sources.
• Includes an insightful discussion of central topics in consequentialism by John Rawls and Amartya Sen.
• Includes classic articles by key figures such Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick and G. E. Moore; and recent reactions to this work by philosophers including Philip Pettit, Derek Parfit, Samuel Scheffler, Peter Railton, R. B. Brandt, J. C. Harsanyi, and Robert Adams.

Back Jacket

Consequentialism is a major approach to normative ethical theory, which considers the production of good and prevention of bad consequences the touchstone of the moral evaluation.

Consequentialism brings together for the first time both the main classical sources and the central contemporary expressions of this important position. Among classic sources, it includes empiricists such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, and rationalists like Henry Sidgwick and G. E. Moore. Contemporary consequentialist selections are included from Philip Pettit, Derek Parfit, Samuel Scheffler, Peter Railton, Richard B. Brandt, John C. Harsanyi, and Robert Adams. There are also two trenchant discussions of consequentialism by John Rawls and Amartya Sen. Edited and introduced by Stephen Darwall, these readings are essential for anyone interested in normative ethics.

Author Biography

Stephen Darwall is the John Dewey Collegiate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He has written widely on moral philosophy and its history, and is the author of Impartial Reason (1983), The British Moralists and the Internal 'Ought': 1640-1740 (1995), Philosophical Ethics (1998), and Welfare and Rational Care (2002). He is the editor, with Allan Gibbard and Peter Railton, of Moral Discourse and Practice (1997).