Presents a comprehensive account of an important but widely contested approach to ethics - intuitionism, the view that there is a plurality of moral principles, each of which we can know directly. This book casts intuitionism in a form that provides an alternative to the more familiar ethical perspectives (utilitarian, Kantian, and Aristotelian).

Preface ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Early Twentieth-Century Intuitionism 5 1. Henry Sidgwick:Three Kinds of Ethical Intuitionism 5 2. G. E. Moore as a Philosophical Intuitionist 11 3. H. A. Prichard and the Reassertion of Dogmatic Intuitionism 14 4. C. D. Broad and the Concept of Fittingness 17 5. W. D. Ross and the Theory of Prima Facie Duty 20 6. Intuitions, Intuitionism, and Reflection 32 Chapter 2. Rossian Intuitionism as a Contemporary Ethical Theory 40 1. The Rossian Appeal to Self-Evidence 40 2. Two Types of Self-Evidence 48 3. Resources and Varieties of Moderate Intuitionism 54 4. Disagreement, Incommensurability, and the Charge of Dogmatism 60 5. Intuitive Moral Judgment and Rational Action 68 Chapter 3. Kantian Intuitionism 80 1. The Possibility of Systematizing Rossian Principles 81 2. A Kantian Integration of Intuitionist Principles 83 3. Kantian Intuitionism as a Development of Kantian Ethics 105 4. Between the Middle Axioms and Moral Decision: The Multiple Grounds of Obligation 113 Chapter 4. Rightness and Goodness 121 1. Intrinsic Value and the Grounding of Reasons for Action 122 2. Intrinsic Value and Prima Facie Duty 134 3. The Autonomy of Ethics 149 4. Deontological Constraints and Agent-Relative Reasons 151 5. The Unity Problem for Intuitionist Ethics 157 Chapter 5. Intuitionism in Normative Ethics 161 1. Five Methods in Normative Ethical Reflection 162 2. The Need for Middle Theorems 165 3. Some Dimensions of Beneficence 174 4. Toward a Comprehensive Intuitionist Ethics 177 Conclusion 197 Notes 203 Index 239

"Robert Audi's magisterial The Good in the Right offers the most comprehensive and developed account of rational ethical intuitionism to date."—Roger Crisp, St. Anne's College, University of Oxford

"This is an excellent book. Far reaching in import, it develops a convincing alliance between an intuitionist approach to moral epistemology and a Kantian treatment of moral theory."—Hugh J. McCann, Texas A&M University

"Among Audi's many mighty achievements in this rewarding book, two are especially illuminating to me: his brilliant analysis of the separable elements of classical intuitionism and his formulation of a moderate vision of intuitionism, which neatly avoids the problems afflicting its distinguished forebears."—Betsy Postow, University of Tennessee

"The Good in the Right will end up being thought of as one of the most important books in moral philosophy published in this decade. In my view, the fate of Kantian ethics hangs on the force of Audi's arguments."—Brad Hooker, University of Reading, author of Ideal Code, Real World

"This is a remarkable book—remarkably ambitious, remarkably successful. It is a work of extraordinary scope and depth. Audi offers an attractive account of moral epistemology that provides him with the means to mine a variety of normative ethical theories, extract what is most promising in them, and combine these elements into a new theory that is both coherent and novel and is readily applicable to a host of problems in practical ethics. The upshot is a highly original and powerful theory of morality that is both theoretically and practically appealing."—Michael J. Zimmerman, author of The Nature of Intrinsic Value and The Concept of Moral Obligation

Robert Audi's magisterial The Good in the Right offers the most comprehensive and developed account of rational ethical intuitionism to date. -- Roger Crisp, St. Anne's College, University of Oxford This is an excellent book. Far reaching in import, it develops a convincing alliance between an intuitionist approach to moral epistemology and a Kantian treatment of moral theory. -- Hugh J. McCann, Texas A&M University Among Audi's many mighty achievements in this rewarding book, two are especially illuminating to me: his brilliant analysis of the separable elements of classical intuitionism and his formulation of a moderate vision of intuitionism, which neatly avoids the problems afflicting its distinguished forebears. -- Betsy Postow, University of Tennessee The Good in the Right will end up being thought of as one of the most important books in moral philosophy published in this decade. In my view, the fate of Kantian ethics hangs on the force of Audi's arguments. -- Brad Hooker, University of Reading, author of "Ideal Code, Real World" This is a remarkable book--remarkably ambitious, remarkably successful. It is a work of extraordinary scope and depth. Audi offers an attractive account of moral epistemology that provides him with the means to mine a variety of normative ethical theories, extract what is most promising in them, and combine these elements into a new theory that is both coherent and novel and is readily applicable to a host of problems in practical ethics. The upshot is a highly original and powerful theory of morality that is both theoretically and practically appealing. -- Michael J. Zimmerman, author of "The Nature of Intrinsic Value" and "The Concept of Moral Obligation"