How to be Good: or How to Be Moral and Virtuous in a Wicked World

Description

What is goodness? Is goodness achievable, and if so, how? If being a good person is a matter of doing the right thing, then what is the right thing to do? Is it acting rationally, promoting happiness, exercising moderation in all things or respecting the freedom of others, or is it somehow a concoction of all these abilities, wisely adjusted to suit circumstances? In this instructive, entertaining and often humorous book, Gary Cox, best-selling author of How to Be an Existentialist and How to Be a Philosopher, investigates the phenomenon of goodness and what, if anything, it is to be a good person and a paragon of virtue. Part easygoing exploration of the age-old subject of moral philosophy, part personal development and improvement manual, How to Be Good carefully leads you on a fascinating journey through the often strange and surprising world of ethics, with ideas from Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche and a host of other moral philosophers.

Gary Cox has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham, UK, where he is also an Honorary Research Fellow. He is author of The Sartre Dictionary, Sartre and Fiction, Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed, How to Be an Existentialist, The Existentialist's Guide, How to Be a Philosopher, The God Confusion, Deep Thought and a biography of Sartre, Existentialism and Excess- all published by Bloomsbury.