Principia Ethica
Cambridge: At the University Press, 1903. First edition. Hardcover. 8vo. [7], viii-xxvii, [1], 1-232 pp. Brown publisher's cloth with gold lettering, a gold rule, and the publisher's device in gold on the spine. Honderich 585. Slater II 710. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "George Edward Moore". Moore began the work in his Principia Ethica in his 1897 dissertation 'The Metaphysical basis of Ethics' and later expanded on it in a series of lectures he delivered in London in 1898. In this extraordinarily influential work, Moore argues that preceding ethical theorists are guilty of the "naturalistic fallacy", the attempt to define the 'good' in terms of natural properties. Moore argues that the 'good' is indefinable and cannot be reduced to or understood in terms of natural properties. Moore's argument and the subsequent debate it inspired form a central part of modern metaethics. A milestone work in analytical philosophy, difficult to find in collectible condition. Very Good. Item #000016705
Traces of wear to the cloth's edges, resulting in loss to the spine's crown and foot, a small abrasion on the front pastedown. A little, neat archival tape repair to the title page's bottom margin.
Price: $1,650.00