2004-05-17 Brilliant seminal work of 20th century ethics

This is a brilliant seminal work of 20th century ethics. Parfit argues in a very clear style, attempting to decide between attitudes to decision-making, mainly consequentialism, 'common-sense morality', and self-interest theory (rational egoism). He is also concerned with questions of personal identity, i.e. what (if anything) makes a person the same person over time? This in turn feeds into questions of morality and rationality, developing an intriguing and provocative position. Parfit also reflects on the question of what we owe to future generations. This is an extremly important issue and Parfit handles it well, though it is perhaps not that closely related to questions from the earlier parts. But any complaints we might have can only be mere quibbles; it is impossible to deny that Parfit discusses issues of earth-shattering importance in a tremendously insightful and stimulating way. Parfit admits that there are many questions left open at the end, but this is unsurprising: it would be too much of a miracle to expect all the problems of ethics to be solved in one go, even by an intellectual giant of Parfit's calibre. However, it does leave open the issues for all those inspired by the book (and who wouldn't be?) to put forward their own theories.
In short, if you are interested in the question of how to make decisions and what morality says you should do - which is a pretty universal issue - this book is essential reading.