On What Matters, Volume One

by Derek Parfit

Overview

On What Matters is a major work in moral philosophy. It is the long-awaited follow-up to Derek Parfit's 1984 book Reasons and Persons, one of the landmarks of twentieth-century philosophy. In this first volume Parfit presents a powerful new treatment of reasons and rationality, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories — Kant's ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism — leading to his own ground-breaking synthetic conclusion. Along the way he discusses a wide range of moral issues, such as the significance of consent, treating people as a means rather than an end, and free will and responsibility. On What Matters is already the most-discussed work in moral philosophy: its publication is likely to establish it as a modern classic which everyone working on moral philosophy will have to read, and which many others will turn to for stimulation and illumination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191613463
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	05/26/2011
Series:	The Berkeley Tanner Lectures
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Derek Parfit is one of the leading philosophers of our time. He is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, Global Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at New York University, and a Fellow of the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of Reasons and Persons (OUP, 1984), one of the most influential books in philosophy of the last several decades.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Samuel SchefflerPrefaceSummaryPART ONE: REASONSNORMATIVE CONCEPTSOBJECTIVE THEORIESSUBJECTIVE THEORIESFURTHER ARGUMENTSRATIONALITYMORALITYMORAL CONCEPTSPART TWO: PRINCIPLESPOSSIBLE CONSENTMERELY AS A MEANSRESPECT AND VALUEFREE WILL AND DESERTPART THREE: THEORIESUNIVERSAL LAWSWHAT IF EVERYONE DID THAT? IMPARTIALITYCONTRACTUALISMCONSEQUENTIALISMCONCLUSIONSAppendices Notes to Volume OneReferencesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"an epochal work ... Parfit's intellectual personality radiates throughout On What Matters, which as a whole presents a gripping and illuminating picture of a single, comprehensive view of the projects of both normative and metaethical inquiry." —Mark Schroeder, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"the most significant work in ethics since Sidgwick's masterpiece was published in 1873 ... a work of epic proportions and ambitions." —Peter Singer, Times Literary Supplement

"Parfit's intricate and beautifully lucid book is undoubtedly the work of a philosophical genius." —John Cottingham, The Tablet

From the Publisher