| These essays constitute a welcome addition to the current re-engagement with the ethical thought of a prominent late Victorian philosopher and reformer. Henry Sidgwick wrote the first professional work of modern moral philosophy, yet one century after his death his thought remains relevant to the present revival of interest in the question of how we should live. How does moral philosophy fit in with the more general use of practical reason? — a still puzzling and deeply contested problem. Which actions are appropriate for an intellectual? — i.e., how should the moral thought of the professional few in the universities be related to the thought and action of the many in the world outside? Sidgwick’s solutions to these questions are discussed and criticised by a distinguished group of scholars, providing new insights into these recurring issues of moral philosophy.
The volume is edited by Ross Harrison, Reader in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.
The papers arise from a conference on Henry Sidgwick held at the Academy in March 2000. The three lectures at the beginning of each section are British Academy Dawes Hicks Lectures in Philosophy. | CONTENTS | | • | Notes on Contributors | | | • | Ross Harrison, Introduction | | | • | Stefan Collini, My Roles and their Duties: Sidgwick as Philosopher, Professor, and Public Moralist | | | • | Jonathan Rée, Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Positive Boredom | | | • | John Skorupski, Three Methods and a Dualism | | | • | Onora O’Neill, Sidgwick on Practical Reason | | | • | Ross Harrison, The Sanctions of Utilitarianism | | | • | Roger Crisp, Sanctions in Bentham, Mill, and Sidgwick | |
