• ISBN13: 9781118939390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Religion and Philosophy
• Publisher: Wiley
• Publisher Imprint: Wiley
• Publication Date: January 1, 2015
• Pages: 248
• Original Price: USD 111.95
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 454 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Ethics & Moral Philosophy

From the Inside Flap

Although contemporary development of virtue ethics has focused on Aristotle, other great thinkers in ethics - notably Hume and Nietzsche - also placed virtue at the center of their ethical theorizing. Moving away from ancient moral theorists, and subjectivist interpretations of Hume's and Nietzsche's thought that have reduced their impact in normative ethics, Swanton provides a fresh perspective on the ethics of both philosophers. Discussion of the moral philosophies of Hume and Nietzsche in turn leads Swanton to seek alternative versions of virtue ethics, particularly areas that have been neglected in the mainstream Aristotelian tradition. Swanton's aim is not to argue for a virtue ethics inspired by either Nietzsche or Hume, as opposed to one inspired by Aristotle. Rather, she explores other options for virtue ethics by interpreting Hume and Nietzsche as virtue ethicists and by suggesting possibilities for virtue ethics inspired by those thinkers.

Written lucidly and structured to allow readers to focus on either Hume or Nietzsche, Swanton's systematic and detailed exploration of the work of these two philosophers provides an extremely valuable contribution to the development of the field of virtue ethics, and encourages us to take seriously Nietzsche and Hume as substantive moral philosophers in an objectivist tradition.

Christine Swanton is a philosopher in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. She is the author of Virtue Ethics: A Pluralist View (2005), Freedom: A Coherence Theory (1992), and has contributed numerous articles to journals and reference works. She is regarded as one of the leading academic figures currently working within the field of virtue ethics.