A Reader In Moral Philosophy

Author : George Lansing Raymond
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330582879
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (828 download)

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Download or read book Ethics and Natural Law written by George Lansing Raymond and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-16 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Ethics and Natural Law: A Reconstructive Review of Moral Philosophy, Applied to the Rational Art of Living The principles of ethics have been discussed in many comprehensive volumes. A new discussion cannot attempted without causing the intelligent reader to ask why it is needed. Without referring to other reasons, a sufficient answer to this may be found in the fact that the war just closing has directed attention as perhaps nothing before ever has, to the influence upon public sentiment and private character of certain ethical theories; and, in connection with this, to the importance of making, if possible, a more careful study than has hitherto been attempted of the practical effects of all such theories. It has come to be recognized more universally than up to this time has been the case, that none of these can be supposed to have merely a speculative or philosophic value. A reconstructive review of them, therefore, in accordance with this conception of their influence seems necessarily suggested, if not demanded. To recall the facts with reference to the origin and development of the conception, the reader needs merely to be reminded that there has been no charitable way of explaining the alarming innovations in warfare and government which have been adopted in Germany and Russia except by attributing them less to the inherent nature of their inhabitants than to false opinions inculcated among them for many years through educational training and popular literature. Through only such agencies could whole communities have been induced to believe that the state is the source of moral authority, and that, in case of conflict between it and individual opinion and conscience, the latter must invariably be made to yield, even if this involve such dear violations of the principles of individual moral sense as are manifested in the worst results of warfare. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.