- [UNTITLED]
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Homeric Ethics
- Plato's Ethics
- Aristotle's Ethics
- Epicurus: Freedom, Death, and Hedonism
- Cynicism and Stoicism
- Ancient Scepticism
- Platonic Ethics in Later Antiquity
- Thomism
- The Franciscans
- Later Christian Ethics
- Nature, Law, and Natural Law
- Seventeenth-Century Moral Philosophy: Self-Help, Self-Knowledge, and the Devil's Mountain
- Rousseau and Ethics
- Utilitarianism: Bentham and Rashdall
- Rationalism
- Rational Intuitionism
- Moral Sense and Sentimentalism
- Butler's Ethics
- Hume's Place in the History of Ethics
- Adam Smith
- Kant's Moral Philosophy
- Kantian Ethics
- Post-Kantianism
- Hegel and Marx
- J. S. Mill
- Sidgwick
- British Idealist Ethics
- Ethics in the Analytic Tradition
- Free Will
- Emotion and the Emotions
- Happiness, Suffering, and Death
- Autonomy
- Egoism, Partiality, and Impartiality
- Conscience, Guilt, and Shame
- Moral Psychology and Virtue
- Justice, Equality, and Rights
- Styles of Moral Relativism: a Critical Family Tree
- Moral Metaphysics
- Constructing Practical Ethics
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter demonstrates that Rousseau sets out no systematic moral theory of his own but rather a series of theories about other matters (political, educational, religious) which contain remarks and opinions relevant to ethics, beginning with a discussion of his theory of psychological development. It then explores a number of possible answers to the questions: what, according to Rousseau is morality, and why should we be moral? Next, the chapter explains the meaning of Rousseau's natural goodness thesis. It presents two main accounts of how individuals can achieve a flourishing and satisfied life, the first of which is Rousseau's educational theory, as articulated in Emile; the second is the political philosophy he advances in the Social Contract.
Keywords: ethical theory, morality, psychological development, natural goodness, educational theory, political philosophy
Christopher Bertram is Professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Bristol and author of Rousseau and The Social Contract (Routledge, 2004). He has published on Rousseau and on topics in political philosophy including social contract theory, justice, and global ethics. He is currently working on justice, territory, and migration. He is a former president of the Rousseau Association.
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- [UNTITLED]
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Homeric Ethics
- Plato's Ethics
- Aristotle's Ethics
- Epicurus: Freedom, Death, and Hedonism
- Cynicism and Stoicism
- Ancient Scepticism
- Platonic Ethics in Later Antiquity
- Thomism
- The Franciscans
- Later Christian Ethics
- Nature, Law, and Natural Law
- Seventeenth-Century Moral Philosophy: Self-Help, Self-Knowledge, and the Devil's Mountain
- Rousseau and Ethics
- Utilitarianism: Bentham and Rashdall
- Rationalism
- Rational Intuitionism
- Moral Sense and Sentimentalism
- Butler's Ethics
- Hume's Place in the History of Ethics
- Adam Smith
- Kant's Moral Philosophy
- Kantian Ethics
- Post-Kantianism
- Hegel and Marx
- J. S. Mill
- Sidgwick
- British Idealist Ethics
- Ethics in the Analytic Tradition
- Free Will
- Emotion and the Emotions
- Happiness, Suffering, and Death
- Autonomy
- Egoism, Partiality, and Impartiality
- Conscience, Guilt, and Shame
- Moral Psychology and Virtue
- Justice, Equality, and Rights
- Styles of Moral Relativism: a Critical Family Tree
- Moral Metaphysics
- Constructing Practical Ethics
- Index
