Good and Evil

by Richard Taylor

The discussion of good and evil must not be confined to the sterile lecture halls of academics but related instead to ordinary human feelings, needs, and desires, says noted philosopher Richard Taylor. Efforts to understand morality by exploring human reason will always fail because we are creatures of desire as well. All morality arises from our intense and inescapable longing. The distinction between good and evil is always clouded by rationalists who convert the real problems of ethics into complex philosophical puzzles.In the first part of Good and Evil, Taylor looks for a more meaningful conception by reexamining and rejecting the whole rationalistic tradition that dominates philosophical ethics. The second part provides an empirical explanation of good and evil, noting that one does not have to look too far to find prime examples of the failure of fixed moral rules.Including important commentary on Joseph Fletcher's groundbreaking situation ethics, and Aristotle's virtues (e.g., magnanimity and pride), Taylor rounds out the book by developing a philosophy of aspiration--personal worth as an ethical ideal--to replace the morality of duty. He offers a modified form of situation ethics to fit the contemporary problems we face.

Genres: Philosophy

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database named Richard Taylor.

Richard Taylor was an American philosopher known for his dry wit and Socratic approach, and an internationally-known beekeeper. He received his Ph.D. at Brown University, and taught principally there as well as at Columbia and the University of Rochester, from which he retired in 1985.

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the top books of the 70s for Ethics

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the least we'll know masterpiece of philosophy. I have given away so many copies , I can hardly find a good used one. This is the best single introduction to philosophical ethics and my only regret is not having read it while training in philosophy. It is still uniquely relevant, even more so in the age of supposed AI and edification of computation. Cannot recommend more highly.