Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Immanuel Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals is one of the most important texts in the history of ethics. In it Kant searches for the supreme principle of morality and argues for a conception of the moral life that has made this work a continuing source of controversy and an object of reinterpretation for over two centuries.
This new edition of Kant's work provides a fresh translation that is uniquely faithful to the German original and more fully annotated than any previous translation. There are also four essays by well-known scholars that discuss Kant's views and the philosophical issues raised by the Groundwork. J.B. Schneewind defends the continuing interest in Kantian ethics by examining its historical relation both to the ethical thought that preceded it and to its influence on the ethical theories that came after it; Marcia Baron sheds light on Kant's famous views about moral motivation; and Shelly Kagan and Allen W. Wood advocate contrasting interpretations of Kantian ethics and its practical implications.
Table of Contents
TEXT --Immanuel Kant: Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals (1785) --First section:Transition from common rational moral cognition to philosophical moral cognition --Second section:Transition from popular moral philosophy to the metaphysics of morals --Third section:Transition from the metaphysics of morals to the critique of pure practical reason --ESSAYS --Why study Kant's ethics? /J.B. Schneewind --Acting from duty /Marcia Baron --Kantianism for consequentialists /Shelly Kagan --What is Kantian ethics? /Allen W. Wood