Ethics & Experience: Life Beyond Moral Theory / Timothy Chappell

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Ethics & Experience: Life Beyond Moral Theory / Timothy Chappell

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Ethics and Experience presents a wide-ranging and thought-provoking introduction to the question famously posed by Socrates: “How is life to be lived?” An excellent primer for any student taking a course on moral philosophy, the book introduces ethics as a single and broadly unified field of inquiry in which we apply reason to try and solve Socrates’ question.

Ethics and Experience examines the major forms of ethical subjectivism and objectivism - including expressivism, “error theory”, naturalism, and intuitionism. The book lays out the detail of the most significant contemporary moral theories - including utilitarianism, virtue ethics, Kantianism, and contractarianism – and reconsiders these theories in the light of two questions that should perhaps be asked more often: Is moral theory, with its tendency to regiment ethical thought and experience, really the best way for us to apply reason to deciding how to live? And, might it not be more truly reasonable to look for less system and more insight?

REVIEWS:

"Original, insightful and provocative . . . the book will serve students well." – The Philosophical Quarterly

"What is hard to find is a textbook that introduces and explains both metaethics and normative ethical theory to beginners in a way that is clear and accessible without sacrificing breadth or philosophical depth. And some of the standard secondary texts that are reasonably accessible and thorough are just a little tedious: rehearsing the same old arguments, the same old examples, the same old theories. If that has been your experience, then here is a book for you." – Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Ethics and Experience is unusual and perhaps unique in its combination of virtues. It brings together discussion of all the major topics in contemporary moral philosophy in a clear and helpfully critical way. At the same time, it advances important theses about the scope of moral concern, the nature of personal responsibility, and the role of moral theory in the good life." – Chris Tollefsen, University of South Carolina

AUTHOR BIO:
Timothy Chappell is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Ethics Centre at The Open University.