The Origins of Analytic Moral Philosophy and Other Essays

Salmeron reconstructs and analyzes key passages of twentieth century philosophical thought on ethics. He recovers the original wealth of the discussions of Moore, Wittgenstein and Russell, and illuminates Moore's work through a careful analysis of its relationships with ideas of his predecessors on the continent, especially Kant and Brentano. Salmeron further analyzes the development of ethical ideas in this century and their relationships with a theory of rationality through a dialogue with authors such as Max Black, Karl Popper and Jurgen Habermas. The author also discusses ethical ideas of Albert Einstein and Jean Paul Sartre. This book will be of interest for all those concerned with the history of philosophy in the twentieth century, particularly with the history of moral philosophy, not in an antiquarian way, but with a focus on the way in which traditions shape current philosophical ideas.