Ethics for Beginners: Big Ideas from 32 Great Minds

by Peter Kreeft

 This is not a typical ethics textbook.

Most ethics textbooks are anthologies of articles by contemporary philosophers, or a whole book by one contemporary philosopher, about ethical puzzles to be solved by logical analysis. This is good mental exercise but it will not change your life, and you will not remember it ten years from now. You will not remember a hundred bright little ideas, you will remember only a few Big Ideas, the ones that changed your life. This book is about 52 of them..

And it is by 32 great philosophers. They are all dead. (Philosophers die, but philosophy does not; it buries all its undertakers.) Living philosophers who write ethics textbooks are usually very bright, but they do not include any name we know will live for centuries. Why apprentice yourself to second rate scribblers like me when you can apprentice yourself to the greatest minds in history? Why not learn from Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche? Why prefer little minds to big ones?

They disagree with each other, to be sure, but all of them will help you, not least those who contradict you and challenge you, and stretch you by forcing you to reply to them, and fight with them. I am appalled by the fact that 90% of the best philosophy students at the best universities, which say they cultivate "diversity," have exactly the same politically correct opinions, whether of the Left or the Right. 

When you were a child your mother probably reminded you before you went out not to forget something like your lunch box or your umbrella. Ethics today is usually treated that as an check with an ethicist before doing the really important things like business or law or medicine or diplomacy. But ethics is not a P.S. to life. It is about the most fundamental things in values, good and evil. Socrates said that a good person does not worry much about little things like whether he lives or dies, but only about big things like whether he is a good person or a bad one. 

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Religion

195 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2020

About the author

Peter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.

Reviews

[Jonathan Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well. Kreeft knows how to write brief synopses of great minds very well. A very fine introduction to ethics, but not for dummies. I recommend it to anyone pondering “how to live the good life?”

[Andrew Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truth is ALWAYS simple

But, that doesn’t mean the truth is easy to find, accept, or most challenging — live. Peter Kreeft gives inspiring vignettes on many ethical philosophers throughout the centuries and ages. They are introductory and very helpful in gaining a foundational understanding for the main tenets of each philosopher. Having only a B.A. in Philosophy, I still found this book challenging from an academic standpoint, but I also found it digestible... Couldn’t believe I finished it in less than a week. It was a phenomenal summary of ethics and helped me tie up loose ends from my B.A. almost 20 years ago. It helped me want to live out my ethical values AND dig deeper. An extremely beautiful gift from the author!!!

[Kathleen Reum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow read for me. Glad I read it, but would love to study the book under a great teacher. I think I missed so much, even though I am definitely a "Beginner." The book recommends rereading parts, and I plan on doing that, especially Machiavelli and Hildebrand.

[Uhhmainduhmeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag here. The information is excellent and well-conveyed. The appendix is interesting and worthy of perusal. The book, in the hands of a well-read teacher who already knew most of the content, did generate some good discussions. And it is helping a child excel in a Comparative Religions course.

However, if I came to this book as a beginner expecting to learn about the field of-or the content of- Ethics, I would be confused and frankly ignorant of the subject. And that would be aggrivating.

[Roman Zadorozhnii · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the way the author skillfully, accessibly, and concisely outlined the main ethical ideas of philosophers of different times and nations

[Briar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is meant as a jumping off point for exploring philosophical ideas. It does not do that well. I am sure the author would tell me to come back when I've received As in all my classes. There was only one chapter that had substantial quotes from the original work. Kreeft mostly summarizes the works of others. However, he seems to poison the well in many chapters. You can tell which thinkers he agrees with and those he does not. For some reason, Marx is brought up despite no chapter featuring him. Ignoring him, some ideas that are unrelated to the works get slipped in. Some chapters (particularly the ones on Eastern thought) seem lacking. Kreeft's more conservative leanings appear in small jabs, bad examples, and unrelated tangents.

Overall, this book seemed lacking. The bibliography at the end of each chapter did not always reference the original work of the philosopher in question. Kreeft references himself often in those sections. The book seemed too short even for a book aimed at beginners.

[Alex O’Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting introduction to ethics and morality. I found Peter Kreeft’s tour of some of the most notable philosophers pretty interesting.

It did a great job sparking interest in me to further learn about ethics and morality.

My one note keeping this from a higher rating is that it gets pretty convoluted and the vocab/sentence structure tends to get unreasonable throughout. I suppose that is to be expected in philosophy, but any time a book claims to be “for beginners” I prefer a bit more “dumbing down”.

Interesting read all the same.

[Hannah McGuinness · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction and chapters on Socrates, Aristotle and Plato were well done and thorough. However, the book felt incredibly biased as Kreeft would barely introduce ideas from philosophers he didn’t agree with before explaining why he believed them to be incorrect. Additionally, this book is missing a great deal of definitions for being advertised to beginners. Found myself regularly referencing other books for refreshers on terms. I would definitely recommend reading other intros to philosophy before attempting this book.

[Mary O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Peter Kreeft. I’m giving this 4 stars just because I was expecting an Ethics for Dummies book but this was a step up from Dummies. So it was a very challenging read for me and my simple little brain. Definitely one to go back to, to use as a stepping point to dig deeper, and to keep as a reference.

[Justine Olawsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Peter Kreeft so much.

So, I started this book back in May, apparently, read a little over halfway through right away, set it aside for over six months, and just finished it today (December 26), because it was low-hanging fruit for ticking the last book off of my 2025 Reading Challenge. I did not abandon it for so long because of Dr. Kreeft, whose praises I could never sing high enough. It was more that I had finished all ancient voices of east and west, all the philosophers I really liked and/or knew a bit of something about and found myself getting deeper into the moderns, and I just was not ready to go there in the summer. Summer is for baseball and beer and books of the beach-read variety. Summer is not for, say, Jean-Paul Sartre, an exploration of whose ethics is akin to, as Kreeft points out, "a visit to hell."

Not that Christmas is the best time for Sartre either. There is no good time for Sartre; but buoyed by Christmas cheer, I was ready to face him and his latter-half cohort and finish this intro to ethics. And, I am glad I did. Because Kreeft makes everything a little sunnier and lighter and fun. Nothing beats his winsome personality, that goes toe to toe with his erudition and learning, and makes all his writing worthwhile.

What I think anyone interested in philosophy will appreciate about this book is that each philosopher or school of thought/belief whose ethics Kreeft unpacks gets what amounts to a mini essay (or micro-mini essay for the moderns, about whom there is just not as much to write, I guess). So, you will get exposed to the ethical philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in a pithy eight pages. Buddha gets about four pages. Old J-P.S. gets four. Gabriel Marcel gets about 1.6 pages all told. Et cetera.

So, you can be buzzing through the pages like nobody's business. But, then Kreeft calls you back to the land of intellectual responsibility by dumping a ton of appendices at the end that invite the reader to probe the trove he's just received with discussion questions (220 of them!), essay prompts, instructions on how to write a Socratic dialogue, how to engage in Socratic debate, and how to write a Summa-style article. It's quite heady stuff, and I wish that I were still homeschooling, because I would have loved to have tortured my logical genius daughter will all these extras.

Upshot: It's Peter Kreeft. It's philosophy. Just read it.

[Timothy Rooney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps this book would be better entitled "Catholic Description of Ethics for Beginners"? The book begins with a number of introductions. I recognize what the author is trying to do here, but it seems a bit extraneous and unnecessary. Perhaps if the book is read with the recognition it is just a brief overview of each of the leaders or significant people in different religions, that would make the cumbersome introduction (39 pages) unnecessary.

Next, I wonder about the order in which material is presented. I understand the author's effort, and I can appreciate his decision. But is that the most effective ordering of the material? Because the first Western religious figure introduced is Moses, that character precedes all other Western religious figures. The author, though next includes Jesus and Muhammad with Moses. Once done with those three, the author then examines the Greek philosophers. Of the six Greek philosophers examined, five of them proceed Jesus and Muhammad. It is because Jesus and Muhammad are grouped with Moses, those three come before the five of six Greek philosophers that all predate Jesus and Muhammad.

Next, Jesus and or Christianity is interjected intermittently in the description of the other figures or characters. If this were a comparison, this might be acceptable. Instead, it just seems like the author is suggesting the inferiority of these other religions to Christianity and Jesus.

The author then begins to examine modern philosophers. these include Machiavelli, Hobbs, Rousseau, Hume Kant, and Mill.

Next, the existentialists are examined. This includes Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre.

Next is Marcel and Hildebrandt. Lastly, we wrap up with modern philosophers, Ayer, Moore, and Wittgenstein.

I asked myself if there were a better way to read this book? I looked, and Wikipedia does provide a decent resource to get information on all of these philosophers. Wikipedia, though, is much denser than this book. This book might provide a little briefer way of getting a quick overview of the philosophies. Now the question you must ask is if the briefer introduction is fair.

Thee answer is unfortunately very easy to discover. In the final section of the book immediately preceding the conclusion, the author states the following regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage:

Especially on this issue, it is felt to be impossible to "'Love the sinner and hate the sin." Why? (In case it is not evident, the author seems to suggest that it is okay to hate the sinner and hate the sin.)

With his acknowledgment from the author, one must recognize the unfair and prejudice or slanted perspective the author has in relation to effective, fair evaluation of the different philosophies and ethics.

The author makes a valiant effort in presenting concluding materials or questions useful in class. I tried to read through the questions, but that was difficult. Perhaps if the questions were included at the end of each section, it would have been easier to digest and recognize how the questions related to the material. But I guess if the questions are just to be added to the end of each taught section, it might make sense to do it that way. Maybe if each section was followed by its respective questions within the book, that would have been a more useful, effective way to present the questions about the material.

Although it might take a bit longer, one is much better suited to examine the main parts of the Wikipedia pages for these famed philosophers to get a fair, balanced presentation of the material.

[Marksmillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a great read. It was smart, to the point, written clearly and provocatively. Never a dull entry, and i appreciated having many of my own ideas reinforced and verified, and the many new insights I got. To my mind, I see CS Lewis Abolition of Man haunting this book, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas. No complaints from me about that!

[David donegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the 32 great minds in ethics. It accomplished what Kreeft sets out to do. Make you think! Make you want to dive deeper into the why ethics, values. Morals are changing and challenged so much today.

[Bill Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly outstanding book. If you have even a fleeting interest in ethics as a topic, this is a great overview of major thinkers. Kreeft has a Catholic bias, but he doesn’t slap you in the face with it constantly.

This book is the best introductory treatment to a topic I think I’ve ever read.

[Bruce Slough]

Excellent

[Michael Cawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, informative, and well-written introduction to Ethics.