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Books like Ethics

Loved Ethics by William K. Frankena? Here are 9 books with the same pull, and why each one fits.

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9 books

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  1. 1Utilitarianism

    Utilitarianism

    John Stuart Mill

    A short classic that states and defends the utilitarian theory that the book classifies among teleological views.

  2. 2The Methods of Ethics

    The Methods of Ethics

    Henry Sidgwick

    A systematic comparison of egoism, intuitionism and utilitarianism, the same field of normative theories that Frankena surveys.

  3. 3Principia Ethica

    Principia Ethica

    George Edward Moore

    The source of the naturalistic fallacy and the intuitionist view of goodness that Frankena discusses in his metaethics section.

  4. 4The Right and the Good

    The Right and the Good

    William David Ross

    Defends a plurality of prima facie duties against single-principle theories, a deontological position the book examines.

  5. 5Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

    Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

    Immanuel Kant

    The primary source for the deontological ethics of duty and the categorical imperative, which the book sets against consequence-based theories.

  6. 6The Language of Morals.

    The Language of Morals.

    R.M. Hare

    A prescriptivist account of moral language that belongs to the metaethical debates Frankena surveys.

  7. 7Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy

    Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy

    Bernard Arthur Owen Williams

    A later critique of systematic moral theory that asks the questions about the role of ethics which Frankena's survey leaves open.

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  8. 8What We Owe to Each Other

    What We Owe to Each Other

    Thomas Scanlon

    A contractualist theory of right and wrong that offers a deontological alternative to the teleological views the book classifies.

  9. 9On What Matters

    On What Matters

    Derek Parfit

    A large-scale treatment of normativity and metaethics that extends the questions Frankena introduces to a more recent debate.

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