Ruling Passions

`Blackburn elaborates his position through engagement with a variety of writers whose ideas differ from his. He is a capable and energetic critic ... Blackburn's stimulating but at times incautious book makes a lively contribution. People interested in the issues it addresses will read it with profit.' Samuel Scheffler, Times Literary Supplement `The author's arguments ... compel readers to make new distinctions, refine their thinking, and clarify remaining questions. This book is of immense value to scholars and advanced students of religious and philosophical ethics who seek a better grasp of historical and recent debates concerning the nature of moral agency and the status of moral claims.' Diana Fritz Cates, Philosophy, vol.25, No.4. `This book is that rare thing: a work of philosophy beautifully written, able to engage the interest of those outside a narrow sphere of academic specialists, while attending to philosophical problems that most worry those who spend their professional life trying to solve them' Ethics, July 2001 `rich, wide-ranging, and rewarding' The Philosophical Review, Vol.109, No.4 `This is a rich, erudite and wonderful book, written with lots of human warmth and a keen eye for philosophical hubris. The discussion is exceptional in the way it brings to life the adventure of ideas.' Robert Dunn, Australasian Journal of Philosophy Vol. 79 `Blackburn's book should force philosophers to rethink much of what they currently take for granted in debates about practical reasoning' Michelle Mason, Hume Studies Vol.XXIV No.2 `Ruling Passions gives us our humanity, providing some answers to those sceptics who find Kantian morality devoid of psychological realism.' Alex Klaushoefer, Times Higher Education Supplement