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A chi è rivolto
This book suits readers who enjoy clear, fair-minded argument, and anyone curious about how utilitarians, Kantians and common-sense moralists really differ.
Che cos’è questo libro
What should you do when your own happiness points one way and your duty points another? Henry Sidgwick spent his career on that question, and The Methods of Ethics, first published in 1874, is the most careful attempt in English to answer it.
Sidgwick does not hand you a new moral system. He finds three ways people reason about what they ought to do. One aims at your own greatest happiness. One follows rules of duty that bind without regard to results. One aims at the happiness of everyone. He pulls them apart so each can be tested on its own terms. You will follow his reasoning step by step, from what the word ought means to whether the three can be reconciled.
In questo riassunto
- 1Ethics asks what ought to be doneFree
- 2Politics and ideal societies cannot settle private duty
- 3Ought is a unique idea that reason grasps
- 4Free will matters less to ethics than it seems
- 5The pursuit of pleasure undermines itself
- 6Egoism cannot be made exact or certain
- 7Common sense morality is vague at its edges
- 8Only a few abstract moral axioms survive testing
- 9Universal happiness is the final standard of right
- 10Reason may be divided against itself
Punto chiave 1 di 10
Ethics asks what ought to be done
Sidgwick begins by fixing his subject. A method of ethics is any rational procedure for deciding what an individual ought to do through voluntary action. Politics asks how a state should be governed. The sciences describe what is, and ethics asks what is right.
He then asks which ends common sense accepts as rational. Only two have a strong claim, happiness and the excellence of human nature. Happiness divides again, since it may be your own or everyone's. That gives three methods, which he calls Egoism, Intuitionism, and Utilitarianism.
His plan is unusual. He offers neither a new system nor a history of old ones, but sets each method beside the others and follows it to its conclusions. Know which method you are using before you argue about its results.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 193,100 words
- Reading timeAbout 13 h 30 min
Questions about I metodi dell'etica
What is The Methods of Ethics about?
It examines the ways people reason about what they ought to do. Sidgwick separates three methods, Egoism, Intuitionism, and Utilitarianism, and tests how far each can be made clear, consistent, and reliable.
What are the three methods of ethics in Sidgwick's book?
Egoism aims at your own greatest happiness. Intuitionism follows duties that seem binding in themselves. Utilitarianism aims at the greatest happiness of all. Sidgwick treats them as natural ways of thinking that he tries to make rational.
What does Sidgwick mean by the dualism of the practical reason?
He means that reason seems to support both seeking your own happiness and promoting everyone's happiness. He finds each claim reasonable on its own, and he does not find a logical way to join them without a moral order.
Is Sidgwick a utilitarian?
He is usually seen as one, because his reasoning favors universal happiness as the final standard. Yet he says his goal is to examine all three methods fairly, and he admits that Egoism cannot be refuted.
Is The Methods of Ethics worth reading today?
Yes for anyone who wants clear arguments about duty, happiness, and justice. Sidgwick states problems plainly, defines his terms, and shows where each view works and where it leaves open questions.
Cite this edition
Sidgwick, Henry. The Methods of Ethics. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-methods-of-ethics.
Sidgwick, H. (2026). The methods of ethics. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-methods-of-ethics (Original work published 1874)
Sidgwick, Henry. The Methods of Ethics. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-methods-of-ethics.
@book{sidgwick2026methods,
author = {Sidgwick, Henry},
title = {The Methods of Ethics},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-methods-of-ethics},
note = {First published 1874}
}
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