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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

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Pre-order. Available 23 Jul 2026
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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.

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 23 Jul 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 272
ISBN 9781350457737
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Lesley Chamberlain

Lesley Chamberlain is an independent scholar and n…

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