The 19th century was a period of intense intellectual activity with major advances being made in the sciences, in mathematics and in psychology, which gradually established itself as a discipline independent of philosophy. Philosophical disputes arose about the nature of scientific method and about whether, or to what extent, the understanding of human conduct and human society required the adoption of the methods of observation and experiment common to the natural sciences. Different philosophical theories about the nature of reality, the foundations of knowledge and of morality, and the...

This volume in the Routledge History of Philosophy series covers many of the most important philosophers and movements of the 19th century, including utilitarianism, positivism and pragmatism.

If ethics encompasses not just a concern for self and family but also for a wider circle of others, what resources do Chinese and Western ethics offer to motivate and guide this expansion of concern? This question is the theme uniting all these essays by leading Chinese and Western philosophers.
Topics discussed include: the Confician emphasis on hierarchy; the motivational basis driving concern for others; how Descartes and Mencius analyzed pity and compassion, how personal identities are formed in Chinese and Western cultures, the possibility of a Confucian civil society, and children's...

John Stuart Mill's essay On Liberty, published in 1859, has had a powerful impact on philosophical and political debates ever since its first appearance. This volume of essays covers the whole range of problems raised in and by the essay, including the concept of liberty, the toleration of diversity, freedom of expression, the value of allowing 'experiments in living', the basis of individual liberty, multiculturalism and the claims of minority cultural groups. Mill's views have been fiercely contested, and they are at the centre of many contemporary debates. The essays are by leading...