Introduction

Abstract

Contemporary philosophers have grown increasingly skeptical towards both morality and moral theory. The skepticism concerning morality stems from the argument that moral considerations are not always the most important considerations and that it is not always good to be morally better. The skepticism concerning moral theory stems from the argument that moral theory is a radically misguided enterprise—one that does not illuminate moral practice and fulfills no useful functions. The succeeding chapters provide a response to the arguments of both “antimorality” and “antitheory” skeptics. The aim is to defuse such skepticism by putting forward alternative conceptions of morality and moral theory—conceptions that owe more to central texts within the canon of Western philosophical ethics (particularly Kantian and Aristotelian) than to sheer conceptual virtuosity.