Michael Levenstein is a philosopher specializing in utilitarian ethics and moral objectivism. He is a graduate of the Universities of Pennsylvania and Oxford, with degrees in Political Science and Public Policy, respectively, and is currently reading Law at Trinity College, Cambridge. Levenstein is the author of eleven books and multiple scholarly articles which, in addition to works of philosophy, include modernist poetry and a novel. For his work, Levenstein was elected one of the youngest-ever Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts in London. He has published two volumes with Algora.

"The End of Knowledge" is a revolutionary work in several regards, most especially in its reinvention of reason as both a theoretical and practical tool able to identify and craft ideal axiological judgments. Equally important is its refinement of...

"The End of Knowledge" is a revolutionary work in several regards, most especially in its reinvention of reason as both a theoretical and practical tool able to identify and craft ideal axiological judgments. Equally important is its refinement of classical utilitarianism permitting the inclusion of calculations of individual merit, and applying this theory to the realm of economic and political organization in society. The primacy of reason as a prerequisite to moral behavior, itself the surest means of experiencing meaningful happiness, is emphasized, and in so doing, is presented a bold new theory of ethics consistent in formulation and one which subsumes all existing major schools of thought, including deontology and virtue ethics, as well as hedonism and stoicism. The sheer scope, rigor and creative power of this treatise foretell that the radical new philosophy presented shall signify a profound challenge to current orthodoxies as diverse and impactful as legitimate governance to the aesthetic ideal. Uniquely expansive and articulate, "The End of Knowledge" proves a rare work in its fusion of the abstruse and the practical, the good and the right, conveyed in a style combining technical precision with poetical lyricism. The result is an exemplar of philosophy at its most powerful and personally relevant. Not since the publication of Bentham's An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation and Mill's Utilitarianism have we seen a work so original and expansive in its formulation and critique of utilitarian ethics, justifying its primacy on the basis of first principles and applying its mandates to the furthest reaches of political and economic significance.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK is twofold. Firstly, it seeks to advance a lucid theory of moral philosophy universal in applicability and consistent in formulation, one possessive of the auxiliary allurement of concatenating previously rival and...

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK is twofold. Firstly, it seeks to advance a lucid theory of moral philosophy universal in applicability and consistent in formulation, one possessive of the auxiliary allurement of concatenating previously rival and incompatible moral frameworks which may now be coherently incorporated within this grander theory. Secondly, it attempts to reveal that in the specific delineation of a grand theory of ethics, an added, perhaps more significant, lagniappe emerges: the realization that the remaining disciplines of politics, economics and aesthetics are subsumed into this narrow branch of theory, and, underpinned by a unique metaphysics and epistemology, create in the process a single yet entirely unified philosophy. In doing so, this treatise represents the culmination of my moral, and in many senses altogether philosophical, ruminations, unique in its ability to both propose a lucid moral framework for every possible sphere of human activity which subsumes all major competitors within it and to incorporate into that the remaining major branches of philosophy. In this sense, this text's ambition does not fall short of attempting an overarching theory of knowledge, and in so doing, advances a claim not to quash further debate as to solving our most enduring philosophical problems, but rather to at least provide a definitive framework in which their answers may be readily attained and clarified. I do not seek to supply responses which cater to the minutiae of life's queries, but instead the broad brushstrokes by which their elucidation may become subsequently apparent to us each as individuals. I call this system Equiism. Nonetheless, my central focus is, and has always re-mained, ethics....