How are we to live we will no longer simply sit in front of our television sets watch- world really were full of people who take so little care of their ing small children die and then continue to live our affluent lives wn lives, never mind the lives of others, there would be nothing without feeling any incongruity. It is not only the dramatic and that anyone could do, and our species would probably not be newsworthy major crises that require our attention, though; there around for very much longer. But the ways of evolution tend to are countless situations, on a smaller scale, that are just as bad eliminate those who are that crazy. There may be a few around and are preventable. Immense as this task is, it is only one of t any one time; no doubt big American cities shelter more than many equally urgent causes to which people in need of a worth- their fair share of them. What is truly disproportionate, though, while objective could commit themselves. the prominence that such behaviour has in the media and in The problem is that most people have only the vaguest idea he public mind. It is the old story of what makes news. A of what it might be to lead an ethical life. They understand million people doing something every day that shows concern ethics as a system of rules forbidding us to do things. they do for others is not news. rooftop sniper is. This book is not not grasp it as a basis for thinking about how we are to live blind to the existence of vicious, violent and irrational They live largely self-interested lives, not because they are born people, but it is written in the conviction that the rest of us selfish, but because the alternatives seem awkward, embarrass- should not live our lives as if everyone else is always inherently ing, or just plain pointless. They cannot see any way of making likely to be vicious, violent and irrational an impact on the world, and if they could, why should they In any case, even if I am wrong, and crazy people are much bother? Short of undergoing a religious conversion, they see more common than I believe. what alternative is left to us? The nothing to live for except the pursuit of their own material self- onventional pursuit of self-interest is, for reasons that I shall interest. But the possibility of living an ethical life provides us lore in a later chapter, individually and collectively self- ith a way out of this impasse. That possibility is the subject of defeating. The ethical life is the most fundamental alternative to this book. the conventional pursuit of self-interest. Deciding to live ethi erely to broach this possibility will be enough to give rise to cally is both more far-reaching and more powerful than a politi- accusations of extreme naivity. Some will say that people are cal commitment of the traditional kind. Living an ethically naturally incapable of being anything but selfish. Chapters 4, 5, reflective life is not a matter of strictly observing a set of rules 6 and 7 address this claim, in varying ways. Others will claim hat lay down what you should or should not do. To live ethi- hat whatever the truth about human nature. modern Western ally is to reflect in a particular way on how you live, and to try ociety has long passed the point at which either rational or to act in accordance with the conclusions of that reflection. If ethical argument can achieve anything. Life today can seem so the argument of this book is sound then we cannot live an crazy that we may despair of improving it. One publisher who unethical life and remain indifferent to the vast amount of read the manuscript of this book gestured at the New York necessary suffering that exists in the world today. It may be street below his window and told me that, down there, people that a ly small number of people who are ad taken to driving through red lights, just for the hell of it. living in a reflective, manner could prove to be a critical How, he was saying, can you expect your kind of book to mak mass that changes the climate of opinion about the nature of a difference to a world full of people like that? Indeed, if the self-interest and its connection with ethics but when we lookHow ar e we to live ? Prefac e xi we will no longer simply sit in front of our television sets watch￾ing small children die and then continue to live our affluent lives without feeling any incongruity. It is not only the dramatic and newsworthy major crises that require our attention, though; there are countless situations, on a smaller scale, that are just as bad and are preventable. Immense as this task is, it is only one of many equally urgent causes to which people in need of a worth￾while objective could commit themselves. The problem is that most people have only the vaguest idea of what it might be to lead an ethical life. They understand ethics as a system of rules forbidding us to do things. They do not grasp it as a basis for thinking about how we are to live. They live largely self-interested lives, not because they are born selfish, but because the alternatives seem awkward, embarrass￾ing, or just plain pointless. They cannot see any way of making an impact on the world, and if they could, why should they bother? Short of undergoing a religious conversion, they see nothing to live for except the pursuit of their own material self￾interest. But the possibility of living an ethical life provides us with a way out of this impasse. That possibility is the subject of this book. Merely to broach this possibility will be enough to give rise to accusations of extreme naivity. Some will say that people are naturally incapable of being anything but selfish. Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 address this claim, in varying ways. Others will claim that whatever the truth about human nature, modern Western society has long passed the point at which either rational or ethical argument can achieve anything. Life today can seem so crazy that we may despair of improving it. One publisher who read the manuscript of this book gestured at the New York street below his window and told me that, down there, people had taken to driving through red lights, just for the hell of it. How, he was saying, can you expect your kind of book to make a difference to a world full of people like that? Indeed, if the world really were full of people who take so little care of their own lives, never mind the lives of others, there would be nothing that anyone could do, and our species would probably not be around for very much longer. But the ways of evolution tend to eliminate those who are that crazy. There may be a few around at any one time; no doubt big American cities shelter more than their fair share of them. What is truly disproportionate, though, is the prominence that such behaviour has in the media and in the public mind. It is the old story of what makes news. A million people doing something every day that shows concern for others is not news; one rooftop sniper is. This book is not blind to the existence of vicious, violent and irrational people, but it is written in the conviction that the rest of us should not live our lives as if everyone else is always inherently likely to be vicious, violent and irrational. In any case, even if I am wrong, and crazy people are much more common than I believe, what alternative is left to us? The conventional pursuit of self-interest is, for reasons that I shall explore in a later chapter, individually and collectively self￾defeating. The ethical life is the most fundamental alternative to the conventional pursuit of self-interest. Deciding to live ethi￾cally is both more far-reaching and more powerful than a politi￾cal commitment of the traditional kind. Living an ethically reflective life is not a matter of strictly observing a set of rules that lay down what you should or should not do. To live ethi￾cally is to reflect in a particular way on how you live, and to try to act in accordance with the conclusions of that reflection. If the argument of this book is sound, then we cannot live an unethical life and remain indifferent to the vast amount of unnecessary suffering that exists in the world today. It may be naive to hope that a relatively small number of people who are living in a reflective, ethical manner could prove to be a critical mass that changes the climate of opinion about the nature of self-interest and its connection with ethics; but when we look •HI