The invention of autonomy : a history of modern moral philosophy

This Book Is The Most Comprehensive Study Ever Written Of The History Of Moral Philosophy In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries. Its Aim Is To Set Kant's Still Influential Ethics In Its Historical Context By Showing In Detail What The Central Questions In Moral Philosophy Were For Him And How He Arrived At His Own Distinctive Ethical Views. In Its Range, Its Analyses Of Many Philosophers Not Usually Considered In Histories Of Ethics, And Its Discussions Of The Interweaving Of Religious And Political Concerns With Moral Philosophy, This Is An Unprecedented Account Of The Developments That Led Up To Kant's Ethics. Extensive Quotations Allow The Reader To Understand The Philosophy Through The Vocabularies That The Philosophers Themselves Used. 1. Themes In The History Of Modern Moral Philosophy -- Pt. I. The Rise And Fall Of Modern Natural Law. 2. Natural Law: From Intellectualism To Voluntarism. 3. Setting Religion Aside: Republicanism And Skepticism. 4. Natural Law Restated: Suarez And Grotius. 5. Grotianism And The Limit: Hobbes. 6. A Morality Of Love: Cumberland. 7. The Central Synthesis: Pufendorf. 8. The Collapse Of Modern Natural Law: Locke And Thomasius -- Pt. Ii. Perfectionism And Rationality. 9. Origins Of Modern Perfectionism. 10. Paths And God: I. The Cambridge Platonists. 11. Paths To God: Ii. Spinoza And Malebranche. 12. Leibniz: Counterrevolutionary Perfectionism -- Pt. Iii. Toward A World Of Its Own. 13. Morality Without Salvation. J.b. Schneewind. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 555-592) And Indexes. "This remarkable book is the most comprehensive study ever written of the history of moral philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its aim is to set Kant's still influential ethics in its historical context by showing in detail what the central questions in moral philosophy were for him and how he arrived at his own distinctive ethical views. The book is organised into four main sections, each exploring moral philosophy by discussing the work of many influential philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In an epilogue the author discusses Kant's view of his own historicity, and of the aims of moral philosophy. In its range, in its analyses of many philosophers not discussed elsewhere, and in revealing the subtle interweaving of religious and political thought with moral philosophy, this is an unprecedented account of the evolution of Kant's ethics."-- Publisher's description J.B. Schneewind's remarkable book is the most comprehensive study ever written of the history of moral philosophy. Its aim is to set Kant's still influential ethics in its historical context by showing in detail what the central questions in moral philosophy were for him and how he arrived at his own distinctive ethical views. In its range, analyses, and discussion of the subtle interweaving of religious and political thought with moral philosophy, this is an unprecedented account of the evolution of Kant's ethics. J.B. Schneewind's study is one of the most remarkable ever written of the history of moral philosophy. Its aim is to set Kant's still influential ethics in historical context by showing what the central questions in moral philosophy were for Kant and how he arrived at his distinctive views. In his grasp of the subtle interweaving of religious and political thought with moral philosophy, Schneewind provides an unprecedented account of the evolution of Kant's ethics. The belief that human action should be guided by natural laws that apply to all people, no matter what their race, sex, location, or religion, originated outside of Judaism and Christianity.