Skip to main content

Free UK delivery for orders £30

Undoing the Moral Empire

Moral Philosophy in Post-War Britain

Undoing the Moral Empire cover

Undoing the Moral Empire

Moral Philosophy in Post-War Britain

Description

After 1945, Britain wanted to be a new country.

The authority of state and church were giving way, the Empire was dismantled, and it was no longer clear who was leading whom in matters of morals. Individuals were left to reinvent their ethical lives anew.

The lives and works of the philosophers discussed in this book were caught up this sea-change. Bernard Williams, Philippa Foot, Iris Murdoch, Richard Wollheim, Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre were all characters in search of a moral England, with a particular vision of the good society. From communitarianism to swinging Sixties' individualism, and radical theories of art – which understood questions of ambiguity, error and forgiveness more than the state ever could – this is the story of their sometimes convergent but often discrepant ideas on ethical life in the second half of the twentieth century.

Undoing the Moral Empire is a work of biography, social history and the history of ideas that masterfully reconstructs the shifting sentiments of the post-war era, reconfiguring enduringly relevant questions of freedom, virtue, and society.

Accessibility Information

Additional accessibility information

  • PDF/UA-2, 1.4
  • accessibility@bloomsbury.com

Hazards

The publication contains no hazards

Support for non-visual reading

Has alternative text descriptions for images

Navigation

  • Page list to go to pages from the print source version
  • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
  • All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order

Table of Contents

1.Introduction
2.Bernard Williams
3.Philippa Foot
4. Richard Wollheim
5.Alasdair MacIntyre
6. Iris Murdoch
7. Charles Taylor
8. Conclusion

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 14 May 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Pages 272
ISBN 9781350457751
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Lesley Chamberlain

Lesley Chamberlain is an independent scholar and w…

Related Titles

Environment: Staging