An Enquiry into Moral Notions (Routledge Revivals)

First published in 1935, this book compares and examines what John Laird termed the ‘three most important notions in ethical science’: the concepts of virtue, duty and well-being. Laird poses the question of whether any one of these three concepts is capable of being the foundation of ethics and of supporting the other two. This is an interesting reissue, which will be of particular value to students researching the philosophy of ethics and morality.

Introduction; Part I: Virtue; Or the Theory of Aretaics 1.General Considerations 2. Classification of the Virtues 3. The Springs of Virtue: And their Expression 4. The Heart and the Head 5. The Heart and the Will 6. Moral and Non-Moral Virtue 7. Our Knowledge of Virtue; Part II: Duty; Or the Theory of Deontology 8. Discussion of Conceptions 9. Duty and the Will 10. Classification of Voluntary Obligations 11. Some Problems about Obligation 12. Duty and Benefit: a Restricted Discussion 13. The Greatness and Conflict of Obligations; Part III: Benefit and Well-Being; Which in the Form of Well-Doing May be Called Agathopoeics 14. The Terms Employed 15. Classification of Goods 16. The Comparison of Goods 17. Duty and Benefit Again 18. Further Discussion of Utilitarianism 19. Of Agathopoeics in General; Index