A Historical Introduction to Ethics (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from A Historical Introduction to Ethics<br><br>The present work, which is now laid before the public, was commenced as a series of lectures to the Newman Club at the University of California. These were delivered during the fall and winter of 1908. They were afterwards considerably modified, and constituted a part of the course in the Introduction to Philosophy given by the author at the Catholic University of America. The material has again been worked over and developed into an independent work, which the author hopes will be of service as an introduction to the study of ethics.<br><br>The nature of the work is indicated by the title. It is "A Historical Introduction to Ethics" It is, therefore, neither a History of Ethics nor a Textbook of Ethics. Were it a history of ethics it would have been necessary to consider many philosophers who are not even mentioned. An arrangement of systems in historical order would have been chosen, and the logical classification of ethical theories which has here been adopted would necessarily have been abandoned. Were it a textbook of ethics a number of special problems, which it has not considered, would have been worked up into a general outline covering the entire field of ethical speculation.<br><br>What, it may be asked, is the special value of a historical introduction to ethics It is the author's opinion that the true approach to an understanding of the science of ethics is first to be sought in the history of the theories of morals. While this is true of ethics, it is not true of the sciences in general.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>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.