Idealist Ethics

Abstract

This book examines the nature of idealist ethics, that is to say, the form and content of ethical belief most typically adopted by philosophical idealists. The inquiry has two aims. The first is historical. From the record of past philosophy, it is demonstrated that there exists a discernible idealist approach to moral philosophy running as a common thread through its numerous diverse varieties: a tradition of 'idealist ethics.' The second aim is apologetic. It is argued that idealist ethics offers an attractive way of looking at moral questions, with much to contribute to contemporary discussion. Examination is made of the relationship between ethics and metaphysics, of the supposed contrast between realism and anti-realism, of the content of moral judgements, of idealization, of altruism, and of those aspects of idealist metaphysics which carry particular ethical significance. Although the discussion is organized by theme rather than by chronology, the methodology employed in this study is to address the several questions identified by consideration of representative cases from the history of philosophy. In this way the past tradition of idealist ethics is allowed to come to the fore and the book, covering all of the major figures from the idealist tradition, may also be thought of as a (partial) history of idealist philosophy.