The ethos of a people... we may say, constitutes the atmosphere in which the best members of a race habitually live...

-from "The Virtues"

Offered as a textbook for university students and drawing from both classical and modern schools of philosophical thought-from Aristotle and the Bible to Mill, Hume, and Kant-this comprehensive 1901 overview of the universe of ethical thought is still a valuable resource today. The fascinating discussions within explore:

.the nature of ethics

.the art of conduct

.ethics and the physical sciences

.ethics and economics

.psychological hedonism

.the true sense of freedom

.the origin of conscience

.the moral connoisseur

.the general problem of authority

.the social universe

.theories of punishment

.morality and religion

.and more.

A book to dip into at random or to read in-depth, this is as fresh and original today as it was a century ago.

British philosopher JOHN STUART MACKENZIE (1860-1935) was professor of logic and philosophy at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.