Michael Shenefelt writes for those with no formal training in philosophy, but also engages the specialist—expounding, for example, Edmund Burke's attack on systematic moral theory, an attack that the author thinks is no less cogent today. He also relates Adam Smith's explanation of Europe's extraordinary power in early-modern times—an explanation that traces Europe's rise to accidents of maritime geography.
In a conversational tone, The Questions of Moral Philosophy discusses authors typically assigned in Great Books courses and connects great works of the past to ten different moral questions that continue to endure today. He draws from his experience as a teacher at New York University's Liberal Studies Program.
