Why Open Source?

Almost all major works in philosophy are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, most of the best work in philosophy is available as public domain; these readings provide convenient sources for almost anyone seeking to learn about ethics and ethical theory. Our present collection is composed almost entirely of public domain sources, edited and emended, and subject to the legal notice following the title page which references Appendix A.

By placing these reading selections under the GDFL, this product is being open-sourced, in part to minimize costs to interested students of philosophy. More important, however, is that students, themselves, can improve the product, if they wish to do so.

This particular edition (version 0.11) represents a first step in the development of an open-source text in ethical theory. The development model of Introduction to Ethical Studies is loosely patterned on the "release early, release often" model championed by Eric S. Raymond.[1] Various formats of this work are being made available for distribution. If the core readings and commentary prove useful, the successive revisions will be released as incrementally numbered "stable"versions beginning with version 1.0.