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Principia Ethica
Hardcover
ISBN13: 9781025922898
Publisher: Tradd Street Press
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 264
Weight: 1.20
Height: 0.63 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Principia Ethica is a seminal work of twentieth-century philosophy that fundamentally altered the trajectory of ethical inquiry. In this foundational text, G. E. Moore challenges the traditional assumptions of moral philosophy by attempting to define the very nature of ethical terms. He famously introduces the concept of the naturalistic fallacy, arguing that good is a simple, non-natural, and indefinable property. According to Moore, any attempt to define good through natural properties-such as pleasure, utility, or evolutionary fitness-is logically flawed.
The work is structured to examine various ethical systems, including naturalism and metaphysical ethics, while asserting that moral truths are apprehended through intuition rather than empirical observation. Moore distinguishes between things that are good as a means and those that possess intrinsic value, famously identifying aesthetic experiences and personal affections as the greatest of human goods. By shifting the philosophical focus toward the linguistic and conceptual analysis of moral claims, Moore laid the groundwork for modern meta-ethics. Principia Ethica remains a cornerstone of the analytic tradition, essential for anyone seeking to understand the development of modern moral reasoning and the complexities of value theory.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
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