Foundations Ethics - (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies) by Russ Shafer-Landau & Terence Cuneo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A substantial collection of seminal articles, Foundations of Ethics covers all of the major issues in metaethics.

• Covers all of the major issues in metaethics including moral metaphysics, epistemology, moral psychology, and philosophy of language.
• Provides an unparalleled offering of primary sources and expert commentary for students of ethical theory.
• Includes seminal essays by ethicists such as G.E. Moore, Simon Blackburn, Gilbert Harman, Christine Korsgaard, Michael Smith, Bernard Williams, Jonathan Dancy, and many other leading figures of ethical theory.

From the Back Cover

"This comprehensive and authoritative collection embraces any of the most influential texts, and all the central contemporary approaches to the nature of morality. It will be an essential resource for any philosophy student wanting to understand that area, which in effect means any philosophy student at all."
Simon Blackburn, Cambridge University

"An enormously effective anthology, Foundations of Ethics contains well-chosen, important papers in metaethics as well as helpful introductory essays by the editors. A highly commendable work!"
David Copp, University of Florida

"Shafer-Landau and Cuneo have assembled an excellent mix of old and new influences, featuring authors who bring out the excitement in their fields. With 38 essays, Foundations of Ethics allows for considerable flexibility and provides a highly useful introduction to metaethics."
Philip Clark, University of Toronto

Foundations of Ethics is a collection of seminal articles in metaethics. Organized into two parts, the first section investigates issues in the ontology of morality, such as whether there are objective moral standards. The second section considers related topics, such as whether moral considerations are essentially reason-giving, the nature of moral knowledge, and the differences between ethics and natural science. Designed for students of ethical theory, this volume provides an extensive selection of primary sources and corresponding expert commentary.

Review Quotes

"This comprehensive and authoritative collection embraces many of the most influential texts, and all the central contemporary approaches to the nature of morality. It will be an essential resource for any philosophy student wanting to understand that area, which in effect means any philosophy student at all." Simon Blackburn, Cambridge University

"An enormously effective anthology, Foundations of Ethics contains well-chosen, important papers in metaethics as well as helpful introductory essays by the editors. A highly commendable work!" David Copp, University of Florida

"Shafer-Landau and Cuneo have assembled an excellent mix of old and new influences, featuring authors who bring out the excitement in their fields. With 38 essays, Foundations of Ethics allows for considerable flexibility and provides a highly useful introduction to metaethics." Philip Clark, University of Toronto

"The rationale of this particular work, Foundations of Ethics, is to identify some of the best writing on meta-ethics - what makes ethics ethics - and bring it together in one convenient volume for students, lecturer, and other interested parties. This makes this work...of value to the academic library and to courses where ethics and meta-ethics are seriously studied. It is a work for early on in such courses as well as for more seasoned readers to check back on to be sure of the facts and arguments...The arrangement and editorial plan is excellent, making this a thoroughly worth-while book to buy." Library Review

"The selection is challenging yet accessible to readers with some background in ethics...This comprehensive collection is indispensable to anyone wishing to be conversant with the major traditions in the field." Choice

About the Author

RUSS SHAFER-LANDAU is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of Whatever Happened to Good and Evil? (2003) and Moral Realism: A Defence (2005). He is the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Volume 1 (2006) and Ethical Theory: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2007).

TERENCE CUNEO is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College. He works primarily in the areas of ethics and the history of philosophy. He is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Reid (with René van Woudenberg, 2004), editor of Religion in the Liberal Polity (2005), and author of The Normative Web: An Argument for Moral Realism (2007).