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Preface | |
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What is ethics? | |
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The problems of ethics: an example | |
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Socrates and Thrasymachus | |
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The subject of ethics | |
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An alternative conception of morality | |
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Two types of ethical theory | |
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The problem of deontology | |
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The idea of a moral community | |
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Ethical theories and moral ideals | |
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Egoism | |
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The wise pursuit of happiness | |
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The concept of happiness | |
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The primary argument for egoism | |
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Psychological egoism | |
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An alternative argument for egoism | |
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Psychological hedonism | |
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The Hobbesian program | |
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Troubles with the Hobbesian program's derivations | |
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Troubles with the Hobbesian program's scope | |
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Thrasymachus' challenge again | |
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Eudaimonism | |
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Egoism v. eudaimonism | |
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The Platonic form of eudaimonism | |
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Perfectionist objections to hedonism | |
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Epicurus' answer | |
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Mill's defense of hedonism | |
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Plato's ethics | |
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Rationalism v. naturalism | |
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Aristotle's naturalism | |
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A problem in Aristotle's program | |
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Prospects for contemporary eudaimonism | |
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Utilitarianism | |
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Impartiality | |
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Two problems | |
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Consequentialism | |
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Mill's restatement of utilitarianism | |
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An inconsistency in Mill's restatement | |
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Rule utilitarianism | |
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Act utilitarianism revisited | |
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Is act utilitarianism self-refuting? | |
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When act utilitarianism ceases to be an ethical theory | |
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The moral law | |
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Two theories of moral law | |
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Divine command theory | |
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Rational intuitionism | |
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Ethics and mathematics | |
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Kant's way | |
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Formalism in ethics | |
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The problem with Kant's formalism | |
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The ethics of self-determination | |
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Kant's step into metaphysics | |
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The formula of humanity | |
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Is the formula of humanity an independent principle? | |
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The formula of autonomy and the kingdom of ends | |
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Answering the charge of excessive formalism | |
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Rationalism revisited | |
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Personal autonomy | |
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Existentialist ethics | |
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The excesses of existentialism | |
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Existentialist ethics pruned of excess | |
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Practical reason | |
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Meta-ethics | |
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Meta-ethical disputes: an illustration | |
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Aristotle's answer and an existentialist response | |
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Can there be motives that aim at doing evil for its own sake? | |
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The obsolescence of Aristotle's answer | |
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The eliminability of teleological explanations | |
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Modern skepticism about practical reason | |
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Hume's meta-ethics | |
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Practical reason in modern philosophy | |
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Kant's notion of practical reason | |
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Freedom and reason | |
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Appendix: Diagram of different teleological theories | |
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Works cited | |
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Suggested further readings | |
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Index | |