New book: What Is the Point of Moral Philosophy?

Edited by Roger Crisp, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu

book cover abstract image in pinks and greens with text What is the point of moral philosophy

Arising from a conference of the same name, organised by the Oxford Uehiro Centre and held in Oxford in May 2022, What Is the Point of Moral Philosophy? will be of interest to scholars and students working in all areas of moral philosophy, including applied ethics, metaethics, and normative ethics. 

Over the last half-century, moral philosophy has taken an applied turn, covering practical issues in areas such as medicine, business, the environment, and many others. But it has largely failed to examine itself. In this volume, a range of distinguished contemporary ethicists, representing many different positions, examine what might be the point, if any, of moral philosophy.

Given the deep and apparently intransigent basic disagreements between philosophers, is the discipline able to provide genuinely helpful advice? Is there an agreed methodology for philosophical ethics? Is the truth about ethics such that few people could believe it (perhaps because the truth is so peculiar) or act upon it (because it turns out that ethics is much more demanding than most think)? Perhaps the only philosopher to have addressed these issues head-on has been Ingmar Persson. His important arguments provide a starting point for debate and are examined and discussed by several contributors. But the volume goes beyond Persson’s path-breaking work to clarify the nature of the challenges to philosophical ethics and the variety of responses available.

Table of Contents

Introduction Roger Crisp, Ingmar Persson, and Julian Savulescu
1. Modern Moral Philosophy: Inconclusive and Esoteric to the Point of Pointlessness?, Ingmar Persson
2. Moral Philosophy and Moral Action: A Response to Persson’s Skepticism, Jeff McMahan
3. Does Moral Philosophy Have Any Point?, David DeGrazia
4. Does Moral Philosophy Really Have No Significant Moral Point?, Melinda A. Roberts
5. What is the Point of this Paper?, Michael Zimmerman
6. Moral Philosophy: Possibly Not Pointless?, Roger Crisp
7. The Epistemic and Moral Points of Moral Philosophy, Thomas Douglas
8. On the Possibility of Progress in Moral Philosophy, Larry Temkin
9. Changing Lives, Peter Singer
10. Some Points of Moral Philosophy and Obstacles They May Create, F. M. Kamm
11. The Point of Moral Philosophy: To Direct How We Should Live and Act, Julian Savulescu
12. A Brief Response to Critics, Ingmar Persson

Publisher

Published 16 July, 2025 by Routledge (currently available for pre-order)

ISBN

ISBN 9781032802558

Link

Pre-order from Publisher site.