‘There is a peculiar magic in taking responsibility for one’s own existential condition; subtle changes occur as the world starts answering back. The point is to make a start.’ It has become conventional to think of the ethical life as one lived in compliance with abstract and universalistic moral rules. But there is another view represented by the ancient tradition of virtue ethics: that the ethical life is all about cultivating a better self through a commitment to personal excellence and self-overcoming.
Classic Ethics for the Modern Man sets out to explore the tradition of virtue ethics as a practical philosophy. It does so by introducing several of the most insightful and enduringly relevant of the classic texts, including:
- Plato, The Republic & Phaedo- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics- The Stoics: Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius- Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy- Spinoza, Ethics- Hume, A Treatise on Human Nature- Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals- Schiller, ‘On Grace and Dignity’- Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling- Schopenhauer, ‘On Human Nature’- Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil & The Genealogy of Morals- Mill, On Liberty & Utilitarianism There is no better way to rediscover what the pursuit of virtue meant to our forebears-and how it can inspire and enrich our lives today.