Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law

by Joseph Rickaby

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Genres: Philosophy

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1892

Reviews

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

📕Published — 1892. In the public domain.

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CONTENTS.
PART I.—ETHICS. CHAPTER I.—OF THE OBJECT-MATTER AND PARTITION OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY. CHAPTER II.—OF HAPPINESS. Section I.—Of Ends. Section II.—Definition of Happiness. Section III.—Happiness open to Man. Section IV.—Of the Object of Perfect Happiness. Section V.—Of the use of the present life. CHAPTER III.—OF HUMAN ACTS. Section I.—What makes a human act less voluntary. Section II.—Of the determinants of Morality in any given action. CHAPTER IV.—OF PASSIONS. Section I.—Of Passions in general. Section II.—Of Desire. Section III.—Of Delight. Section IV.—Of Anger. CHAPTER V.—OF HABITS AND VIRTUES. Section I.—Of Habit. Section II.—Of Virtues in general. Section III.—Of the difference between Virtues, Intellectual and Moral. Section IV.—Of the Mean in Moral Virtue. Section V.—Of Cardinal Virtues. Section VI.—Of Prudence. Section VII.—Of Temperance. Section VIII.—Of Fortitude. Section IX.—Of Justice. PART II.—DEONTOLOGY. CHAPTER I. (VI.)—OF THE ORIGIN OF MORAL OBLIGATION. Section I.—Of the natural difference between Good and Evil. Section II.—How Good becomes bounden Duty, and Evil is advanced to sin. CHAPTER II. (VII.)—OF THE ETERNAL LAW. CHAPTER III. (VIII.)—OF THE NATURAL LAW OF CONSCIENCE. Section I.—Of the Origin of Primary Moral Judgments. Section II.—Of the invariability of Primary Moral Judgments. Section III.—Of the immutability of the Natural Law. Section IV.—Of Probabilism. CHAPTER IV. (IX.)—OF THE SANCTION OF THE NATURAL LAW. Section I.—Of a Twofold Sanction, Natural and Divine. Section II.—Of the Finality of the aforesaid Sanction. Section III.—Of Punishment, Retrospective and Retributive. CHAPTER V. (X.)—OF UTILITARIANISM. PART III.—NATURAL LAW. CHAPTER I.—OF DUTIES TO GOD. Section I.—Of the Worship of God. Section II.—Of Superstitious Practices. Section III.—Of the duty of knowing God. CHAPTER II.—OF THE DUTY OF PRESERVING LIFE. Section I.—Of Killing, Direct and Indirect. Section II.—Of Killing done Indirectly in Self-defence. Section III.—Of Suicide. Section IV.—Of Duelling. CHAPTER III.—OF SPEAKING THE TRUTH. Section I.—Of the definition of a Lie. Section II.—Of the Evil of Lying. Section III.—Of the keeping of Secrets without Lying. CHAPTER IV.—OF CHARITY. CHAPTER V.—OF RIGHTS. Section I.—Of the definition and division of Rights. Section II.—Of the so-called Rights of Animals. Section III.—Of the right to Honour and Reputation. Section IV.—Of Contracts. Section V.—Of Usury. CHAPTER VI.—OF MARRIAGE. Section I.—Of the Institution of Marriage. Section II.—Of the Unity of Marriage. Section III.—Of the Indissolubility of Marriage. CHAPTER VII.—OF PROPERTY. Section I.—Of Private Property. Section II.—Of Private Capital. Section III.—Of Landed Property. CHAPTER VIII.—OF THE STATE. Section I.—Of the Monstrosities called Leviathan and Social Contract. Section II.—Of the theory that Civil Power is an aggregate formed by subscription of the powers of individuals. Section III.—Of the true state of Nature, which is the state of civil society, and consequently of the Divine origin of Power. Section IV.—Of the variety of Polities. Section V.—Of the Divine Right of Kings and the Inalienable Sovereignty of the People. Section VI.—Of the Elementary and Original Polity. Section VII.—Of Resistance to Civil Power. Section VIII.—Of the Right of the Sword. Section IX.—Of War. Section X.—Of the Scope and Aim of Civil Government. Section XI.—Of Law and Liberty. Section XII.—Of Liberty of Opinion.

[Marcia Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may not finish this one for quite some time, because it requires more focus than I'll be able to give it for the next few months. As an introduction to moral philosophy -- a subject I first learned about from the most delightful talk-show host ever, Craig Ferguson -- it's a decent text so far (I've finished the first four chapters as of today, 7/1/11). And yes, of course, it's dated; the book was published in 1888, and more than a little has changed in the field since then. But Rickaby does a good job offering concrete examples to support the abstract concepts he explores, and I'm glad there's a public-domain book like this one that enables me to learn about a subject entirely new to me. I'll see if the quality of the writing and information holds up through the fall, which is about when I think I'll finish it.

[Davin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative

Give a great insight on the many categories and sub categorise covered. A good flow of connection between the subject matter.