The premise of this ethical theory anthology is that the study of ethics represents, above all else, participation in the thinking of a long tradition of philosophers. Organized historically by philosopher, the book provides an introductory chapter on ethical concepts and helpful commentary and study questions throughout the reading selections. "Morality and the Good Life" is substantial enough for a full course in ethics, but it is concise enough to allow the instructor time to include other approaches in addition to the classic texts and materials presented in this volume.

Robert C. Solomon is Quincy Lee Centennial Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has taught at Princeton University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of California. He is the author of FROM RATIONALISM TO EXISTENTIALISM (Harper & Row, 1972), THE PASSIONS (Doubleday, 1976), IN THE SPIRIT OF HEGEL (Oxford, 1983), ABOUT LOVE (Simon & Schuster, 1988), ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE (Oxford, 1992), NEW WORLD OF BUSINESS (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994), and A PASSION FOR WISDOM (Oxford, 1997), as well as a number of textbooks in general philosophy. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and has taught in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

Clancy Martin is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UMKC. He works on 19th and 20th Century European philosophy after Kant, the intersections of philosophy and literature, and the ethics of advertising and selling.

Clancy has authored, coauthored and edited several books in philosophy, including LOVE, LIES, AND MARRIAGE (forthcoming, Farrar Straus & Giroux), HONEST WORK (Oxford University Press, 2006) with Robert Solomon and Joanne Ciulla, and THE PHILOSOPHY OF DECEPTION (forthcoming, Oxford University Press). He has published over two dozen articles and reviews on Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Romanticism, and the virtue of truthfulness, and has also translated Nietzsche's THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA (Barnes and Noble Classics, 2006) and is presently translating Nietzsche's BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL for Hackett. Clancy also publishes fiction in NOON, MCSWEENEYS, and elsewhere.

In 2007 his story "The Best Jeweler" won The Pushcart Prize, and his first novel HOW TO SELL is forthcoming from Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2009, and will appear simultaneously in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and other languages.

Clancy earned his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Texas at Austin, where he wrote a dissertation on Nietzsche's theory of deception under the late Robert C. Solomon.