Reason and Ethics

Joel Marks is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of New Haven and a Bioethics Center Scholar at Yale University. Among his many professional and popular publications are two previous monographs defending amorality, Ethics without Morals and Hard Atheism and the Ethics of Desire. His Website is www.docsoc.com.

• Introduction: Method and Plan of the BookChapter 1: MoralismChapter 2: From the Moral to the AmoralChapter 3: From Amorality to DesirismChapter 4: What Reason Can DoChapter 5: Companions in GuiltChapter 6: Further Objections and RepliesChapter 7: What Is It Like to Be an Amoralist?Chapter 8: The Divided AmoralistChapter 9: We Are the 99 PercentChapter 10: Still More Amoral Moments

"If morality is a myth or an illusion, why persevere with moral judgments, moral language, and moralistic ways of thinking? Joel Marks offers a plausible alternative: desirism. This means thinking, speaking, and acting in accordance with our rationally scrutinized desires, rather than claiming the support of a mysterious, always-elusive, indefinable source of moral authority. Marks is now the foremost advocate for doing away with morality and replacing it with something more defensible, and—by most people’s lights—better." – Russell Blackford, University of Newcastle, Australia