
✨ Featured Offer
Brand New
$20.73
List Price: $20.99
🚚
See all 5 offers from $11.03 FREE standard delivery by: 31 Mar 2026
Overview
In this fresh evaluation of Western ethics, noted philosopher Richard Taylor argues that philosophy must return to the classical notion of virtue as the basis of ethics. To ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, ethics was chiefly the study of how individuals attain personal excellence, or "virtue," defined as intellectual sophistication, wisdom, strength of character, and creativity. With the ascendancy of the Judeo-Christian ethic, says Taylor, this emphasis on pride of personal worth was lost. Instead, philosophy became preoccupied with defining right and wrong in terms of a divine lawgiver, and the concept of virtue was debased to mean mere obedience to divine law. Even today, in the absence of religious belief, modern thinkers unwittingly continue this legacy by creating hairsplitting definitions of good and evil.
Taylor points out that the ancients rightly understood the ultimate concern of ethics to be the search for happiness, a concept that seems to have eluded contemporary society despite unprecedented prosperity and convenience. Extolling Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Taylor urges us to reread this brilliant and still relevant treatise, especially its emphasis on an ethic of aspiration.
Taylor points out that the ancients rightly understood the ultimate concern of ethics to be the search for happiness, a concept that seems to have eluded contemporary society despite unprecedented prosperity and convenience. Extolling Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Taylor urges us to reread this brilliant and still relevant treatise, especially its emphasis on an ethic of aspiration.
| ISBN-13 | 9781573929431 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 1573929433 |
| Weight | 0.39 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 5.63 x 0.31 x 8.17 In |
| List Price | $20.99 |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 144 pages |
| Publisher | Prometheus |
| Published On | 2002-03-01 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Zoom Books Company
Lynden, WA, USA
Book is in very good condition and may include minimal underlining highlighting. The book can also i...
Free delivery by: 31 Mar 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
Greenworld Books
Arlington, TX, USA
Good condition. It may show normal signs of use such as light writing highlighting or library markin...
Free delivery by: 31 Mar 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
Sugarhouse Book Works
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Size: 5x0x8; As pictured. Very light edge wear. No marks throughout. Carefully packed and promptly...
Free delivery by: 31 Mar 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
SurplusTextSeller
Columbia, MO, USA
Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust j...
Free delivery by: 31 Mar 2026
✨ Brand New
Seller details
Alibris
Sparks, NV, USA
Print on demand Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 144 p. Prometheus Lecture Series.
Free delivery by: 31 Mar 2026