Henry Sidgwick: Collected Essays and Reviews

by Henry Sidgwick, John Slater (Editor)

Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) is best known for his work The Methods of Ethics , which went through seven editions and served as the principal textbook in ethics for a half century. His fame as a moral philosopher has tended to obscure the true range of his contributions to other subjects, many of which are hidden away in periodicals and encyclopedias, now accessible to only the most determined researchers.

These two volumes of previously uncollected essays and reviews give the reader a welcome opportunity to explore these lesser-known but no less important shorter writings. Gathered together for the first time are many valuable documents in ethics, the history of philosophy, economics, political philosophy, psychology, the philosophy of history, and psychical research. The book reviews provide Sidgwick's comments upon most of the important philosophical texts published in the last third of the nineteenth century. The collection shows just how central Sidgwick was both to the evolution of British analytical philosophy and to the development of philosophy as a discipline in its own right.

—a comprehensive collection of his lesser-known philosophical writings, gathered from a wide range of sources
—includes reviews of many of the era's major philosophical publications

780 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 1998

About the author

Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) was an English utilitarian philosopher and economist. He was the Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1883 until his death, and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise The Methods of Ethics. He was one of the founders and first president of the Society for Psychical Research and a member of the Metaphysical Society and promoted the higher education of women. His work in economics has also had a lasting influence.