Russell on Ethics: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell

Routledge, 1999 - Philosophy - 257 pages

Russell on Ethics presents a coherent and comprehensive collection of Russell's ethical writings, drawing on a wide range of his publications on ethical concerns, many of which have been difficult to access by students and general readers. Charles Pigden provides an accessible introduction to the papers, situating them within the field of ethics as a whole and detailed annotations on the papers themselves, analysing their arguments and exploring their relevance to current concerns. Russell on Ethics represents a valuable insight into Russell as an ethicist, which will be useful to both specialist and non-specialist alike.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• PART I: 3
• the prePrinctpia writings: 25
• Greek exercises: 27
• On the foundations of ethics: 31
• The relation of what ought to be to what is has been or will be: 37
• The relation of rule and end: 41
• On the definition of virtue: 44
• The ethical bearings of psychogony: 48
• Ethical axioms: 53
• Cleopatra or Maggie Tulliver?: 57
• Are all desires equally moral?: 68
• Is ethics a branch of empirical psychology?: 71
• Seems Madam? Nay it is: 79
• Was the world good before the sixth day?: 87
• The meaning of good: 95
• On scientific method in philosophy: 105
• a rejoinder to Professor: 111
• Is there an absolute good?: 119
• What I believe: 125
• Science and ethics: 131
• Reply to criticisms: 145
• A compromise solution?: 151
• Last perplexities: 164
• The development of morals: 177
• What is morality?: 184
• A Russian communist philosopher: 194
• Power and moral codes: 204
• Spinoza and the ethic of impersonal: 223
• Bibliography: 236

About the author

Charles Pidgin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, University of Otago, New Zealand. He is the author of a number of papers on Bertrand Russell and on meta-ethics generally, including the chapter 'Naturalism' in Peter Singer's prize winning A Companion to Ethics(Oxford 1991)

Bibliographic information

• Title: Russell on Ethics: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell; Russell on, Bertrand Russell
• Author: Bertrand Russell
• Editor: Charles R. Pigden
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Routledge, 1999
• ISBN: 0415156602, 9780415156608
• Length: 257 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy