Sidgwick's ethics and Victorian moral philosophy

This analysis of Sidgwick's 'Methods of Ethics' discusses why Sidgwick made his philosophy a synthesis of his predecessors' work. The second part involves a commentary on the main topics of 'Methods', while the third part examines Sidgwick's critique of the two main ethical theories that developed after the publication of his work

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Texts and References -- Introduction -- PART I: TOWARDS THE METHODS OF ETHICS -- 1. The Development of Sidgwick's Thought -- i. Sidgwick's Life -- ii. Religion in the 1860s -- iii. Sidgwick's Religious Development -- iv. Sidgwick's Writings on Religion -- v. Sidgwick's Early Ethical Views -- vi. Sidgwick on Knowledge and Philosophy -- 2. Intuitionism and Common Sense -- i. Reid's Ethics -- ii. The Scottish School -- iii. Thomas Brown -- iv. Alexander Smith -- 3. The Cambridge Moralists -- i. Coleridge -- ii. The Coleridgeans -- iii. Whewell's Ethics: The System -- iv. Whewell's Ethics: The Difficulties -- v. John Grote -- 4. The Early Utilitarians -- i. Utility and Religion -- ii. Bentham -- iii. Godwin -- iv. Early Criticism -- 5. The Reworking of Utilitarianism -- i. Utilitarians and Rules -- ii. J. S. Mill: Philosophy and Society -- iii. Some Further Criticisms of Utilitarianism -- iv. The Other Utilitarians -- v. Mill's Utilitarianism and its Reception -- PART II: THE METHODS OF ETHICS -- 6. The Aims and Scope of The Methods of Ethics -- i. The Focus on Common Sense -- ii. The Relation of Method to Principle -- iii. The Basic Methods -- iv. Ethics, Epistemology, and Psychology -- v. Ethics and Free Will -- vi. The Limits to Synthesis -- 7. Reason and Action -- i. The Basic Notion -- ii. Reason, Right, Ought, and Good -- iii. The Neutrality of Practical Concepts -- iv. Scepticism -- Appendix: The Development of I, iii and I, ix -- 8. Acts and Agents -- i. Martineau's Theory -- ii. The Religious Context of Martineau's Theory -- iii. Sidgwick's Criticisms: The Data -- iv. Sidgwick's Criticisms: The Theory -- v. The Outcome of the Controversy -- 9. The Examination of Common-Sense Morality -- i. The Role of the Examination -- ii. The Principles of the Examination -- iii. Common Sense Examined.