Henry Sidgwick 1838 – 1900
Henry Sidgwick was a 19th-century English philosopher and one of the most rigorous and systematic moral philosophers of the Victorian era. His 1874 work The Methods of Ethics is widely regarded as the most carefully argued statement of utilitarian ethics ever produced, comparing utilitarianism with rational egoism and intuitional moral common sense and concluding with what he called the dualism of practical reason. He held the chair of moral philosophy at Cambridge University and was a founder of Newnham College, one of the first women's colleges at Cambridge. He was also a co-founder of the Society for Psychical Research, dedicated to investigating reports of paranormal phenomena. His careful analysis of utilitarian ethics has shaped 20th and 21st-century moral philosophy through the work of Derek Parfit and others.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Utilitarianism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“The good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view of the universe, than the good of any other.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“I see no escape from the conclusion that we ought to be guided by ultimate good, which is happiness.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“Common sense morality is a body of judgements that has grown up in society without systematic reflection.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“Reason supplies us with no premise from which to deduce that another's good ought to be the end of my action; we must take it as a self-evident principle.”
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Attributed to Henry Sidgwick:
“The object of ethical inquiry is to attain systematic and precise general knowledge of what ought to be.”