In this collection of papers, Sidgwick develops his view of universal hedonism or Bentham‐like utilitarianism, according to which the only way to reconcile a desire for one's own good with the dictates of duty by reason is through a utilitarian approach to the subordination of individual psychological impulses to universal ends. His thesis provides him the opportunity to address numerous ethical issues. In some essays, he analyses the moral implications of the theory of evolution. In other pieces, Sidgwick offers his responses to particular criticisms of the views outlined in his work Methods ... More

In this collection of papers, Sidgwick develops his view of universal hedonism or Bentham‐like utilitarianism, according to which the only way to reconcile a desire for one's own good with the dictates of duty by reason is through a utilitarian approach to the subordination of individual psychological impulses to universal ends. His thesis provides him the opportunity to address numerous ethical issues. In some essays, he analyses the moral implications of the theory of evolution. In other pieces, Sidgwick offers his responses to particular criticisms of the views outlined in his work Methods of Ethics, in which he attempts to identify the various methods of ethics implicit in our common sense moral reasoning. A position that Sidgwick develops throughout the collection in opposition to John Stuart Mill is that although people pursue their own happiness, it does not follow that they ought to pursue the happiness of others. Another issue that concerns him is how to verify our beliefs. He maintains that the criteria of truth proposed by Descartes, the empiricists, and Herbert Spencer are useful, but not infallible. He offers two methods of verification for excluding error – the Intuitive Verification and the Discursive Verification. Additional topics that Sidgwick considers in these papers include: free will, positive morality and positive law, the is/ought distinction, egoism, sociology, common sense, unreasonable action, and psychology.