Ethics and Action

This collection of essays on closely related issues in moral philosophy looks at different aspects of men's understanding of their own and others' actions in ethical dimensions. Peter Winch discusses the ways in which the possibility of any form of understanding, both of man's own nature, and of the nature of the world in which he lives, is a function of his social existence. In the essays which focus on this aspect of moral philosophy he raises questions about the extent to which any form of social existence involves some sort of moral consciousness, and about the extent to which differing forms of social existence involve correspondingly different forms of moral consciousness. The author is also concerned with the ways in which an individual's own acts affect his understanding of himself and of his place in the world. He considers questions, related to this issue, about the character of moral deliberation and decision, the nature of the human will and its connections with action, and the extent, if any, to which an individual's moral reasonings must claim universal applicability. Emphasizing the concepts of reward and punishment, Peter Winch relates his discussion of particular issues to a tradition of moral thinking, going back at least as far as Socrates, according to which the greatest harm that can befall a man is for him to act evilly.