Sidgwick sets out not to preach a morality but to examine the ways people actually reason about what they ought to do. He works through egoism, common-sense intuitionism and utilitarianism in turn, with chapters on pleasure and desire and on free will, and probes how far the three can be reconciled.
A classic of Victorian philosophy, still central to modern debates about utilitarianism. This seventh edition carries all the author’s prefaces. Download the free EPUB.