Morality and the Good Life: An Introduction to Ethics Through Classical Sources

Needed the book for class. Really liked it, it had good selections from various philosophers and was easy to read.

The book was just as advertised, though it had some highlighting, which was not mentioned. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase.

I've used this book since 2006 to teach ethics in an undergraduate course and it has proved to be a useful text. Robert Solomon and Clancy Martin have put together a text that teaches ethics by introducing students to the classical sources. This book is 512 pages in length. It contains chapters on universal ethical concepts and ethical theories and approaches, Plato, Aristotle, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell, and John Rawls. There is also a glossary and combined subject/author index. The glossary is 18-pages long; the index is 4-pages. The text contains primary readings, then commentary from Solomon and Martin. The authors attempt to be objective, although the chapter on religion might come across as somewhat antagonistic to those who were reared in a conservative background. For instance, Solomon and Martin set forth questions about the traditional view of Hell without commending or condemning it. While I have found the inclusion of primary texts and the commentary to be helpful in teaching ethics, and the glossary elucidates the book's content, one pet peeve of mine regarding the glossary is the number of typos that pervade that part of the book. An example of an egregious typo is the definition for "philosophy": "in the study of 'first principles,' 'the love of wisdom.'" I believe that the first word of this definition should be the verb "IS" not the preposition "in." And this particular typo (using "in" rather than "is") is repeated throughout the glossary. But aside from this frequent typo, I highly recommend Solomon and Martin. The text is engaging, informative and critical. This book is a fine introduction to morality and the good life by means of the primary texts themselves.

This was a textbook in my ethics class, and is definitely a keeper. It outlines works from all of the famous ethical philosophers, and also contains a very helpful "running commentary" throughout. The perfect introduction to the subject, and a lifelong reference guide. I've already used it as a source for papers in other classes.