The Limits of Kindness

Caspar Hare is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his PhD at Princeton University, and his previous book, On Myself, and Other Less Important Subjects (Princeton University Press, 2009) was about ethical egoism and the metaphysics of the self, and was named one of CHOICE Magazine's 'Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010'. He has published numerous articles on topics in ethics, metaphysics, and the theory of practical rationality in journals including Ethics, Noûs, Analysis, Philosophical Studies, the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, the Journal of Philosophy, and Philosophy and Public Affairs.

• PART I; PART II; PART III

This is an outstanding book. Two features render it particularly distinctive. Many qualities render it simply excellent. One distinctive feature is methodological. Shunning reflective equilibrium, the book attempts to derive startlingly bold ethical conclusions from extremely modest assumptions about rationality and decency. The other distinctive feature is substantive. Shunning more traditional views, the conclusions it attempts to justify push ethical theory in a direction that is neither purely consequentialist nor recognizably deontological nor simply a common sense compromise between the two. As a result, the book is bracingly original in both its central claims and its means of arriving at them. Among the many qualities that render the book truly excellent, it is clearly, concisely and engagingly written, elegantly and rigorously argued, and admirably judicious in advancing strong claims.