As children we learn life is unfair: bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. So, it is natural to ask, "Why play fairly in an unfair world? If being immoral will get you what you want and you know you can't get caught, why not do it?" The answers, as argued herein, begin with the idea that morality and happiness are not in competition. If this is so, then we can see how immorality undermines its perpetrator's happiness: self-respect is necessary for happiness, and immorality undermines self-respect. As we see how our self-respect is conditional upon how we respect others, we learn to evaluate and value ourselves, and others, appropriately. The central thesis is the result of combining the ancient Greek conception of happiness (eudaimonia) with a modern conception of self-respect. We become happy, we life the best life we can, only by becoming virtuous: by being as courageous, fair, temperate, and wise as can be. These are the virtues of happiness. This book explains why it is bad to be bad and good to be good, and what happens to people's values as their practical rationality develops.

About the Author
Paul Bloomfield is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of Moral Reality (OUP 2001) and editor of Morality and Self-Interest (OUP 2008).

Reviews
For those in the field who enjoy a rigorous analytic adventure, this book will offer a satisfying journey through the land of morality and the good life. * Wendy C. Hamblet, Metapsychology Online Reviews *
... Bloomfields book is an excellent read His interweaving of happiness and self-respect is cogent and unique, and shows how much fertile ground there is in combining virtue and deontological approaches. In covering these ideas as well as issues in value theory, this book has much to offer for anyone broadly interested in ethical theory. * Social Theory and Practice *
He also offers an excellent argument against the Stoics ... All in all, Bloomfield's book makes an important contribution to the eudaimonistic literature and is also a pleasure to read * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online *
There is much to like in this book. It is ambitious, engagingly written, and often wise. * E. Sonny Elizondo, The Philosophical Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199827367
Author Paul Bloomfield
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 403g
Dimensions(mm) 147mm * 213mm * 28mm