This remarkable book is the most comprehensive study ever written of the history of moral philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its aim is to set Kant's still influential ethics in its historical context by showing in detail what the central questions in moral philosophy were for him and how he arrived at his own distinctive ethical views. The book is organised into four main sections, each exploring moral philosophy by discussing the work of many influential philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In an epilogue the author discusses Kant's view of his own historicity, and of the aims of moral philosophy. In its range, in its analyses of many philosophers not discussed elsewhere, and in revealing the subtle interweaving of religious and political thought with moral philosophy, this is an unprecedented account of the evolution of Kant's ethics.

"The Invention of Autonomy is a remarkable work." New Series

"The author successfully aims at clarity, accuracy, and conciseness in telling the history as it was understood by those who made it -- in their own words and with a full conciousness of the religious and sociopolitical contexts. As a contribution to scholarship, Schneewind's book brings together a great deal of material from many sources. Its encylclopedic character makes it primarirly useful as a work of reference for specialists -- both professors and graduate students -- in modern ethical theory and the history of modern philosophy." John A. Gueguen, Perspectives on Political Science

"The author successfully aims at clarity, accuracy, and conciseness in telling the history as it was understood by those who made it -- in their own words and with a full conciousness of the religious and sociopolitical contexts. As a contribution to scholarship, Schneewind's book brings together a great deal of material from many sources. Its encylclopedic character makes it primarirly useful as a work of reference for specialists -- both professors and graduate students -- in modern ethical theory and the history of modern philosophy." John A. Gueguen, Perspectives on Political Science

"...this book is a major scholarly achievement." Terence Penelhum, Ethics

"The book is in part appropriate for upper-level undergraduate courses concerned with the history of ethics and practical philosophy, including aspects of political philosophy....scholars will find it to offer a strong antidote to anachronistic interpretation from the limited perspective of twentieth century ethics. Schneewind's scholarship is uniformly of the very highest caliber. Schneewind shows what can be done by someone with complete command over the currents of an entire epoch." Review of Metaphysics

"This book is valuable in a great many ways...Schneewind has done a remarkable job of placing Kant in the context of historical issues...This is among the very most complete and insightful histories of ethics available today." Ethics and Medicine

"The book is in part appropriate for upper-level undergraduate courses concerned with the history of ethics and practical philosophy, including aspects of political philosophy....scholars will find it to offer a strong antidote to anachronistic interpretation from the limited perspective of twentieth century ethics. Schneewind's scholarship is uniformly of the very highest caliber. Schneewind shows what can be done by someone with complete command over the currents of an entire epoch." Review of Metaphysics