Essays on Henry Sidgwick

The dominant moral philosophy of nineteenth-century Britain was utilitarianism, beginning with Bentham and ending with Sidgwick. Though once overshadowed by his immediate predecessors in that tradition (especially John Stuart Mill), Sidgwick is now regarded as a figure of great importance in the history of moral philosophy. Indeed his masterpiece, The Methods of Ethics (1874), has been described by John Rawls as the ‘most philosophically profound’ of the classical utilitarian works. In this volume a distinguished group of philosophers reassesses the full range of Sidgwick’s work, not simply his ethical theory, but also his contributions as a historian of philosophy, a political theorist, and a reformer.

Foreword J. B. Schneewind; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Introduction: Henry Sidgwick today Bart Schultz; Part I. Common-Sense Morality, Deontology, Utilitarianism: 1. Sidgwick and nineteenth-century British ethical thought Marcus G. Singer; 2. Sidgwick and the Cambridge moralists J. B. Schneewind; 3. Sidgwick and Whewellian intuitionism: some enigmas Alan Donagan; 4. Common sense at the foundations Russell Hardin; Part II. Egoism, Dualism, Identity: 5. Sidgwick’s pessimism J. L. Mackie; 6. Sidgwick and the history of ethical dualism William K. Frankena; 7. Sidgwick and the rationale for rational egoism David O. Brink; 8. Sidgwick on ethical judgment John Deigh; Part III. Hedonism, Good, Perfection: 9. Sidgwick on desire, pleasure, and the good Thomas Christiano; 10. Eminent Victorians and Greek ethics: Sidgwick, Green, and Aristotle T. H. Irwin; 11. The attractive and the imperative: Sidgwick’s view of Greek ethics Nicholas P. White; Part IV. History, Politics, Pragmatism: 12. The ordinary experience of civilized life: Sidgwick’s politics and the method of reflective analysis Stefan Collini; 13. Rethinking tradition: Sidgwick and the philosophy of the via media James T. Kloppenberg; Index.