This book is a new edition of G.E. Moore’s Ethics, originally published in 1912. In it, Moore analyzes the utilitarian account of right and wrong in great detail, defending the doctrine that results are the test of right and wrong while rejecting utilitarianism’s hedonistic value theory. The book argues at length against attitudinal accounts of right and wrong, which threaten to undermine the objectivity or moral judgements. It also has important things to say about intrinsic value, free will, the motives of actions, and many other topics. Although Moore’s 1903 Principia Ethica has overshadowe ... More

This book is a new edition of G.E. Moore’s Ethics, originally published in 1912. In it, Moore analyzes the utilitarian account of right and wrong in great detail, defending the doctrine that results are the test of right and wrong while rejecting utilitarianism’s hedonistic value theory. The book argues at length against attitudinal accounts of right and wrong, which threaten to undermine the objectivity or moral judgements. It also has important things to say about intrinsic value, free will, the motives of actions, and many other topics. Although Moore’s 1903 Principia Ethica has overshadowed it, Ethics is a rich text that displays great philosophical skill and intellectual candour, and merits careful study in its own right. Moore himself always regarded the book favourably. Thirty years after its publication, he wrote, ‘I myself like [it] better than Principia Ethica, because it seems to me to be much clearer and far less full of confusions and invalid arguments’. This edition of Ethics includes Moore’s essay, ‘The Nature of Moral Philosophy’. It also contains an introduction by the editor, notes on the text, a brief chronology of Moore’s life, an index, and suggestions for further reading.