Many people think about, and talk about, morality: journalists, novelists, social scien- tists, doctors, lawyers, and theologians. Most of their thinking and talking is either polemi- cal-attacking or defending morality or pro- claiming a "new" morality-or it is concerned with some popular, practical moral issue like abortion, cuthanasia, or war. The author of this volume believes that, to be helpful and sound, such moral thinking must be done in the context of a general theory or systematic philosophy of morality-something moral phi- losophers have long been trying to provide. In this book the author offers much of his own basic theory of morality, hoping that it will be of use to his readers in their thinking about morality, whatever may be the nature of their interest therein.