Henry Sidgwick, Practical Ethics: A Collection of Addresses and Essays :Practical Ethics: A Collection of Addresses and Essays (original) (raw)

Sidgwickian Ethics, by David Phillips

David Phillips’s Sidgwickian Ethics is an important work for Sidgwick scholars, joining a very promising revival of interest in the thought of one of the most important moral philosophers. Phillips sets out his goals right in the very first sentence. ‘My aim in this book is to interpret and evaluate the central argument of Sidgwick’s The Methods of Ethics, in a way that brings out the important conceptual and historical connections between his views and contemporary moral philosophy’ (p. 3). In the following pages this central argument is divided into four chapters on the following areas: metaethics, epistemology, the relation between utilitarianism and dogmatic intuitionism, and the relation between utilitarianism and egoism. On most of these issues, Phillips presents new and interesting arguments that will, no doubt, stimulate further discussion among those studying the thought of this great Victorian philosopher.

Ethics: The Key Thinkers (2nd edition)

Ethics: The Key Thinkers (2nd edition), 2023

third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.

HENRY SIDGWICK'S RECONCILIATION IN ETHICS

studiapt.org

Dalam bidang etika, dua pemikiran yang bertentangan satu sama lain selama lebih dari seratus tahun (abad XXVII -XVIII), yaitu antara Intuisionisme dan Utilitarianisme. Henry Sidgwicklah (1838-1900) yang telah berhasil mendamaikan pertikaian dua sekolah pemikiran tersebut. Utilitarianisme mengoreksi dan menambah dimensi penting pada etika yang menekankan kemampuan manusia, yaitu aspek conscience, kesadaran (intuisionisme) dan sebaliknya. Menurutnya, kesenjangan logika di dalam utilitarianisme hanya dapat diatasi oleh intuisionisme. Tidaklah cukup untuk melihat bahwa kebahagiaan ialah tujuan akhir rasional semata bagi agen yang sadar seperti diyakini oleh utilitarianisme. Sebaliknya, intuisionisme membutuhkan utilitarianisme. Dua intuisi primer nalar, kebijaksanaan (prudence) dan kebajikan (benevolence) selalu mengarah kepada kebaikan (good). Kesimpulan Sidgwick adalah bahwa dua sekolah pemikiran ini bukan hanya hadir bersama dan saling bertentangan, tetapi saling membutuhkan baik secara logis maupun praktis.

ETHICS.pdf [Review/Essay of "COMPANION TO ETHICS" by Peter Singer (1991)

This personal essay attempts to create a new view of the Rules for Personal and Social Behavior that have​ been classified in philosophy under the subject of Ethics, or ‘Moral-Philosophy’. It does not attempt to present a new set of universal rules, as has been the tradition of philosophers since Plato, and it is not a complete History or overview of the subject. Rather, it a critique of the main-stream ethical systems made by some major thinkers. It also attempts to position the author’s views in this area, recently analyzed in a companion essay entitled “VALUES”. This essay will locate this approach [not Ethical egoism] in the sub-area called ‘Subjectivism’ and often confused with ‘Relativism’, which were briefly covered by two modern philosophers in Singer’s strongly recommended book. In contrast to the usual Top-Down survey normally followed in approaching this subject, this viewpoint will adopt a Bottom-Up view, more in line with modern experience. Readers will notice an explicit and strong appreciation of the ideas of David Hume, whose life was summarized in another of this author’s essays entitled “HUME”. A historical sequence is adopted in sampling from some of the major philosophers, who have written classics on this subject for those readers that have not formally studied this major area of philosophy. Professional philosophers may wish to read this sketch to judge how fair the author has been to his predecessors. Here, a very deliberate distinction is introduced between Morality and Ethics that have usually been conflated into a single approach, or synonyms, in the Top-Down tradition. Here, whenever Morality (behavioral rules of the individual) is separated off for from the composite (averaged) rules of a society then we will deliberately denominate them as Values (since there is no neologism for this larger viewpoint). Although like Hume, the author has been inspired by a biological aspect, and in contrast to Singer’s focus on the human treatment of animals, this essay will limit itself to intra-human actions. The historical review will limit itself to European philosophers due to limited time and the reviewer’s restricted knowledge (this is not to belittle other cultural traditions but to be realistic about the readers’ time and my own ignorance). Singer’s book contains a special section (II) that contains essays on the rest of the world’s ethical systems, covering Indian, Buddhist, Islamic, Chinese and Jewish ethics. As this is a theoretical approach (‘Meta-Ethics’), it will only touch briefly on Applied Ethics (interested readers should consult Singer’s book, section V). This perspective will end up setting these ideas closest to the those sometimes called “Evolutionary Ethics” that has been developing since Darwin’s 1859’s radical proposals in his famous (but mistitled) book “The Origin of Species”.